In The Zone
by xXriujooXx
Summary: While in Baghdad, Tony and Agent Jardine are ambushed and kidnapped. Takes place during the episode In The Zone. Includes torture, swearing, explosions, gunfights, death, and Ziva being her super lethal assassin ninja self. TonyxZiva
1. Ambush

**Okay, so after last weeks episode I decided that it was about time i started my own NCIS fanfiction. :) This picks up after the webcam conversation between Tony, Abby, McGee, and Ziva in the episode In The Zone.**

**After that point I have selfishly manipulated the plot line to work to my own advantage. Muwahahahahahahaha...**

* * *

**TONY**

It was hot. Like, intensely hot. I could feel my sweat soaking into my clothes, making them stick to me in the most unpleasant way possible. I was stripped down as decent as I could be with Special Agent Jardine in the same room. I turned over and tried to close my eyes-the damned military was getting us up at 0500 tomorrow. Or was it today already? I couldn't tell how late it was…my watch was still on D.C. time. I thought for a brief minute about calling McGee back on the webcam, just to annoy him, but thought better of it.

I could hear Nikki tossing and turning in the bed next to mine, the springs squeaking in protest.

"Why did you take this job, Tony?" I heard Nikki ask me quietly.

"What, at NCIS?"

"No…this mission. To Baghdad."

"Oh." I sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't really know," I admitted after a while. "I guess I just jumped at the chance. It's not like I have a real reason, you know, like you do."

She was silent for a while. "So you just came?"

"Well…yeah. I mean, come on. The only other choice was McGeek...and he's still a Probie. He wouldn't be able to handle something like this. By himself. You know, without me or Gibbs."

"Ah." I could tell Nikki was smiling, even in the intense darkness of the military hangar.

We lay there in silence for a while, listening to the harsh shouts of the soldiers outside and the dull echoes of the occasional chopper. Ah…who would want the plain old Ocean ambience when you could get War Zone Baghdad to put you to sleep?

"Abby seems to really miss you," Nikki said, after a few moments of not-quite-silence.

"Yeah," I said, coming up with nothing else to say.

"How long have you been working together?" she asked.

I thought about this for a moment. "Um…six years, maybe? I think Abby joined me and Gibbs about six months before Kate did."

"Oh."

Nikki and I talked for a while longer, I suppose to try and relieve the tension we both felt with the shouting outside and the obvious knowledge that we were in a war zone, until we finally succumbed to sleep out of sheer exhaustion.

After what seemed like only fifteen minutes, however, the gruff soldier that was leading us around, Major Vernai, woke us up sharply.

"Come on, let's go," he ordered.

I groaned and sat up, my tired limbs protesting vehemently. I noticed that Nikki was already fully dressed and moving around as I reached down to grab my helmet.

"Come on, Tony," she said, a note of anxiousness in her voice. "Hurry up!"

"What's your hurry?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"I just want to solve this case and get it over with," she said, a little too quickly to be entirely honest. I knew that was only answer I was going to get, so I didn't press the issue. I pulled on my protective vest as I followed her outside the hangar and into the dust colored Hummers waiting for us. The sun was already beginning to show on the horizon, giving the sky a purplish tinge off towards the east. I held the door open for Agent Jardine as she climbed in.

"Alright, ladies, listen up," Major Vernai said, turning around in his front seat and addressing us. "While were out of the IZ you do as I say, is that clear?"

We both nodded.

"Okay, here are the rules. No leaving the vehicle until the area is secured. Don't go anywhere by yourself. Keep your gun with you at all times. Don't go anywhere unless I say you can. Got it?"

We nodded again as the convoy of Hummers began rolling forward. They were incredibly uncomfortable. It felt every single bump, rut, and hole in the road jar through my skeletal system with relentless force. It was sort of like being on one of those old wooden rollercoasters, except without the fun of the steep drops and the high speeds. I couldn't see the speedometer…but it felt like we were going about ten miles an hour.

I guess it was to give the driver enough time to hit all the bumps.

Over the rattling of the vehicles and the crackling talk coming from the soldiers' walkie talkies, I didn't hear the high pitched whistling until it was too late to do anything about it.

"Mortar!" someone shouted, and I watched in shock and horror as the Hummer in front of us exploded. I acted quickly and instinctively, pulling agent Jardine's head down as the glass in our windshield burst inwards. I was going to get her "Don't Touch Me" lecture, I could tell, but I rather get that speech a hundred times than have to report back to Gibbs that I had failed to protect her.

The Hummer spun out of control, and we jerked sharply as it smashed into the side of a building.

I was still dazed in the long seconds after the crash. I felt Nikki shrink away from me once she recovered herself.

"Erm…thank you," she mumbled as she reached into her bag for her Wet Wipes.

"Are you crazy?" I asked, maybe a little too harshly. "We just survived a mortar attack and all you can think about are germs?"

"Heads up!" someone shouted, as another projectile whistled through the air, colliding with the building next to us. Dust and debris came raining down, and black smoke billowed around us through the broken windows. There was a loud groan, a sharp crack, and then the roof of the Hummer was smashed in. Nikki screamed, and I narrowly avoided having my head crushed by the caved ceiling.

"The building's collapsing!" Nikki shrieked as another giant rock hit the Hummer so it rocked like a storm-tossed boat. "We have to get out of the truck!"

"What?" I yelled at her. "Are you crazy?"

"If we stay in here, we'll be crushed to death," she said. "If we go out your door we will be able to get out of harm's way. Relatively speaking, of course."

I paused and thought about her idea for a second and a half. "Okay, let's go," I said, jiggling the door handle on my side and trying to force it open. "It's stuck!" I said.

"Push harder," Nikki said in a commanding tone that caught me off guard. But I did, and I slowly gave way with the creaking of protesting metal. Agent Jardine and I tumbled ungracefully from the destroyed Hummer and took off running.

"Wait!" she said, turning back. "I forgot my gun!"

I grabbed her arm and spun her back around before she had taken two steps. "Relax. I have mine. That's good enough for the both of us right now."

We had almost made it to safety in a dark alleyway when a bullet cut across our path, so close to my face that I could feel the whoosh of the displaced air as it zoomed past. I reacted instinctively. Shoving Nikki behind some boxes, I turned and pulled my gun up to my shoulder, my line of sight shooting off down the gun barrel. Another bullet whizzed by, and I fired two responding shots in the direction it had come from before crouching behind the stacked boxes with Agent Jardine.

"What's going on?" she asked, her eyes wide with fear and shock.

"Ambush," I replied shortly. "I think whoever killed Captain Rankin is trying very hard to keep us from discovering them." Another bullet slammed into our protective row of boxes, blowing of a good chunk of one of them. Nikki and I hunkered lower to the ground.

I twisted around and stuck the barrel of my gun through newly made hole, searching through my limited view for any movement. "Have any of the soldiers gotten out of their trucks yet?" I asked. Nikki looked over my shoulder. "I see a few pulling themselves out," she said. "But there isn't as much movement as there should be."

"A lot of people are probably unconscious from the crash," I explained. "But the front car, the one hit by the mortar, that one I'm not so su-"

Rapid firing cut off my sentence, and Nikki shrank back, covering her ears. I looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the shooting, but none of it seemed to be aimed at us.

"Oh my God," Nikki said, staring wide-eyed at the line of destroyed Hummers we had just vacated. I turned, and I saw where the target of the shooting was. The soldiers getting out of the vehicles were mercilessly gunned down…_massacred_…right there in the street.

I searched with renewed vigor for the shooters; it was definitely more than one now. My eyes scanned the roofs of the nearby buildings and peered intently into dark windows.

"There!" Nikki shouted, pointing to a window, about halfway up the side of what looked like a two-story residence. The long barrel of an AK-47 was poking out and glinting in the early morning sunshine. I quickly brought my gun up and aimed, shooting multiple rounds into the darkness where I estimated his head to be. My efforts were rewarded as I watched a limp body tumble out of the window to crash with a sickening splat onto the street below.

"Got him," I proclaimed unnecessarily.

The shooting gradually stopped as our attackers judged the soldiers to be dead.

"What are we going to do now?" Nikki whispered as an eerie silence fell over the scene and the dust settled.

"I don't know," I said as I watched the smoke from the attacked Hummer drift lazily around the area.

I began to fumble through the pockets on my vest. Locating my cell phone, I tossed it at her. "Call Gibbs," I instructed, and I went back to scan our surroundings, gun in hand, as her fingers pressed the buttons shakily.

The shooting began again, and another chunk of our wooden box wall was blown away.

"This isn't going to last us much longer!" Nikki said, hysteria in her voice. "We'll be hit soon!"

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll think of something. Has he answered his phone yet?"

"No!"

"Which one did you call?"

"His desk phone."

"Call his cell, then!"

"I don't know it!"

I was about to tell her to call McGee, but then someone obviously picked up Gibbs' phone. Another bullet whizzed by my ear, and I was intensely grateful for the helmet.

"Help!" Nikki said into my phone.

"Who answered?" I asked her, loading more bullets into my gun.

"McGee! We're being shot at! Our convoy was attacked and the Hummer exploded and then we crashed and all the soldiers are dead…" I heard her explain hysterically to McGee.

"Where's Gibbs?" I asked Nikki."Ask him where Gibbs is."

I heard another gunshot and then felt something small and hard slam into my shoulder with inhuman force.

"Oh my God," Nikki said. "Tony!"

I was falling down, I could tell, but my head was all foggy. Pain blossomed in my shoulder, shooting all throughout my body.

The perimeter of my vision blackened as I felt myself hit the ground. I reached for where I'd dropped my gun, but someone kicked it away. I tried sitting up, but a black combat boot pushed me back down roughly. I was pinned to the ground, and I could feel the blood soaking through my shirt as I looked straight up into the barrel of a gun.

* * *

**ZIVA**

I tapped my fingers on my desk impatiently, waiting for Tony to break the weird silence of the bullpen with a sexist joke or an obscure movie quote…or something. But, as I looked up, I had to remind myself for the fiftieth time in ten minutes that he was not here. Tony was in Baghdad, doing who knows what, running from who knows who. And I was not there to make sure he stayed out of trouble. Agent Jardine would not be able to protect him like I could, should they get ambushed.

I gave myself a mental slap across the face. _What are you thinking? _I asked myself furiously. _It is the International Zone, Ziva! People do not get ambushed in the IZ!_

But that Captain did. Captain Rankin. He was shot.

And killed.

Oh God…what if Tony gets shot? What if they do not catch the right guy? What if Tony does not-

"Hey Ziva," McGee said, coming into the bullpen after his visit with Abby. "Gibbs back yet?"

"Obviously not," I said, pointing to Gibbs' empty desk. I went back to my frantic worrying.

"Is something the matter?" he asked me a moment later, after my fidgeting continued. "You seem worried."

"Do I, McGee?" I asked in strained voice.

"It's going to be fine. Tony's going to come back in a few days and be even more insufferable than before."

"Yes…" I said, agreeing with him and pretending to be eased. But, inside I was still a nervous wreck. I could not take four more days of this!

I tried typing up my last report to keep my mind distracted, but I could not get past the first sentence. I kept stopping and looking around, and drumming my fingers on my desk.

McGee definitely noticed. "Look Ziva…" he started to say.

"I am _fine_, McGee," I snapped, a little too harshly. I did not mean to take out my frustration him.

"You know, if you want to talk to Tony, so bad, you can just ask Gibbs when the next MTAC satellite update is and ask if you can go."

"Neither Gibbs nor the Director-"

"-Assistant Director-"

"-yes, Assistant Director, will let me use satellite time for personal reasons."

"Well, at least you'll get to see him, and know that he's just fine."

"I guess that's better than nothing…" I mused quietly. I stared at my computer screen in thought.

"Staring at it isn't going to get it done, David," Gibbs said as he strode through the bullpen on the way to Ducky from wherever he came from. "I want that report on my desk tomorrow."

"Yes sir," I said automatically, and impulsively began typing as he walked away.

"Ziva…" McGee said pointedly at me, jerking his head off towards Gibbs' retreating form.

"Oh," I said, getting up quickly, remembering my request, and hurrying off after the retired Marine.

_You are being stupid again, Ziva,_ I chided myself. _Why are you asking this? You know that Gibbs will say no._

_But what if he does not?_

I caught up with Gibbs and squeezed into the elevator just as the doors closed.

"What is it, Ziva?" Gibbs asked abruptly as I struggled for the right words to phrase my odd request.

"Umm…" I said, floundering.

"Don't stutter," he said, sighing as he reached over to press the button that deactivated the elevator.

"Is that a Gibbs rule I forgot to learn?" I asked.

"No…but it will be if you don't spit it out, David."

"Oh…umm…" I said. "I was wondering if there was going to be another videoconference with Tony and…uh…Agent Jardine any time soon."

Gibbs eyes me suspiciously. "You want to be there, I take it?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak again. I did not know what it was about this hardened ex-Marine, but I just fell apart when he stared me down. It was almost like he was looking into my mind and reading my thoughts. It was completely disarming and I had no control over it…especially in the dark elevator.

He pressed the button and the elevator began to move again, but he did not say anything, and I knew better than to press the issue.

The last two seconds of the elevator ride were long and awkward for me. I said nothing as he got out. _So I guess that is a no…_

"0600 tomorrow morning, David," he said he got out. "Any later and you're not getting in."

I let out a sigh of relief and pressed the button to go back upstairs.

...

"Aren't you going to head home, Ziva?" McGee asked me around eleven o'clock that night. I yawned and rubbed my eyes as I tore them away from my computer screen. The office was dark and empty around us.

"Yes, I just need to finish one more sentence," I said.

"I'll wait and walk down with you," McGee offered, and sat down on Tony's desk. I resumed typing in silence.

Then, out of nowhere, Gibbs' desk phone rang, breaking the quiet with its harsh and insistent tone. McGee and I both jumped, and turned to stare at it.

"Are you going to get it?" McGee asked me. I shook my head. "I answered Tony's phone once and it turned out to be his current girlfriend," I explained. "It took me forty minutes to convince the girl that I was only Tony's coworker."

McGee nodded understandingly and went to answer the phone. "Hello?" I heard him answer quietly.

We were both shocked to hear the amount of noise coming from the other side of the line. The voice was clearly heard, however.

"Help!"

"Nikki!" McGee said in realization. "What's going on?" he pressed the button to put her on speaker phone so I could hear. "What's happening? Are those gun shots?"

"McGee!" Agent Jardine's shrill and hysterical voice sounded really loud in the quiet office. "We're being shot at! Our convoy was attacked and the Hummer exploded and then we crashed and all the soldiers are dead-"

Then I heard Tony's voice. "Where's Gibbs? Ask him where Gibbs is!"

"I don't know where he is," McGee said frantically. "Do you know, Ziva?"

Without realizing I had done so, I had gotten up and crossed the short space between me and the phone. I shook my head.

Then Nikki screamed again. "Oh my God! Tony!"

"What happened!" I demanded through the phone. "Nikki!"

"Tony's been shot!" she said. "He's been shot…"

McGee and I listened helplessly in shock and horror.

"Oh no…" came Agent Jardine's voice again, this time softer. Despair leeched through those two syllables, and I knew, without knowing _how_ I knew, that Tony and Nikki had been captured. Harsh, guttural Arabic voices were picked up, and then two quick gunshots.

And then the line went dead.

* * *

**Don't worry...i'll update as soon as I can. :)**


	2. Cages

**Sorry about the long wait guys! ****I have a hundred carefully contrived excuses for why...but I'm sure you don't want to hear them and want to get right to the chapter, correct?**

**But...for those of you who have read my other stories...you know that I tend to have rather long-winded and pointless A/N's at the beginning of chapters. **

**First of all, I would like to thank ALL OF YOU who reviewed the last chapter. I had no idea I'd get so many! You guys are awesome and I'm hugging you all in my mind right now. :)**

**Random note: I'm still freaking out and going crazy over yesterday's ep RECOIL. Mostly I'm a crazy, obsessed fangirl with nothing else to do but to embrace her nonsensical, irrational side. Is anyone else this excited about it or am I just weird? Ziva was so different in the episode; so angry and sad.**

**I loved her hair, though...**

**Okay. Sorry. I'm done rambling. :) **

* * *

CHAPTER 2

**ZIVA**

"Oh my God," McGee said, his voice mirroring his shock and fear. I tried to stay strong, like I had learned to be in my Mossad training, so I could think of a rational way to solve this problem.

"We have to call Gibbs," I said. I was fighting really hard to keep the panic and despair from taking over my voice. I did not want to worry the younger agent with a meltdown from me.

I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm my systems. McGee was on the phone, trying to explain to our boss, as coherently as possible, what had just happened.

"He's on his way now," he announced unnecessarily as he snapped his phone shut a minute later.

"Do you remember everything that Nikki said?" I asked. "He is going to want to know."

"NCIS records all phone calls. All I have to do is hack into security and pull up the file."

"You should do it now. You know how impatient Gibbs is."

"Right." McGee hurried behind his computer and began typing furiously.

Two minutes later, Gibbs came bursting into the bull pen, followed closely by Abby and Ducky.

"Ziva!" the Goth girl cried, running to me. "What's happening? What's going on? Gibbs won't tell us anything!" This all came out in a tumbling torrent of words as she latched onto me. Acting contrary to my usual habits and without a second thought, I embraced the girl.

"McGee!" Gibbs barked in his usual abrupt manner.

"Yes sir!" he answered, standing up quickly from his desk and almost knocking his chair to the ground.

"Can you play back your conversation?"

McGee nodded, and hit ENTER on his keyboard.

Noise from whatever battle Tony and Nikki were facing instantly filled the room, followed closely by Agent Jardine's panicked cry for help.

I stood tall and unshaken, for Abby's sake, as I listened to the distress call once again…but inside I was crumbling to pieces.

I felt Abby grab my arm tighter as Nikki announced that Tony had been shot, and then, after the two gunshots at the end, she promptly burst into tears.

"No…" she said sadly. "Gibbs, please tell me they're going to be okay…" she left me and ran to Gibbs, seeking more comfort than I could give.

Gibbs was silent, but I knew what he wanted without being asked. "They said something about American military trash, gave orders to destroy the phone…and to shoot them," I said quietly, translating the Arabic phrases that we had heard in the background for the rest of them.

"Do you have any idea who it could possibly be?" he asked me after a moment or two of intensely painful silence.

I shook my head. "It could be anyone from Mossad radicals to angry Baghdad residents," I said. "A lot of people over there do not like the Americans."

"Have you guys told anyone else about this?"

"No," I said.

"Call Director Shepard. Tell her everything and to meet us here tomorrow. Everyone, go home and get some sleep," Gibbs said.

"But what about Tony?" Abby asked. "I can't just go home and _sleep_ knowing that he is not alright!"

"She has a point Jethro," Ducky said, speaking for the first time.

"But there is nothing we can do until Director gets here and the Assistant Director authorizes the scheduled MTAC satellite transmission at 0500," McGee said.

"But I still don't want to leave," Abby put in.

Gibbs pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Alright. Don't go home if you want. But I still want everyone here and awake at 0500. No excuses."

We all nodded quickly.

...

I walked back into the bullpen after a trip to the bathroom to find McGee sleeping in his chair and Abby curled up in the space between Tony's desk and McGee's. We had been talking, trying to get our mind off of things. Abby was determined not to go to sleep, and chugged about four Caff-Pows, but her exhaustion go the better of her. I could not help but smile at the sight of her sleeping with her last one nestled in the crook of her arm.

I looked at the digital clock on Tony's desk. It was 1:30 in the morning. Without understanding why I did it, I sat in his chair, sinking into the soft leather. I let my eyes wander about his desk, which was in a general state of disarray.

There was a picture of a woman on the right corner of his desk, the same woman that I noticed also sat on the tops of McGee's, Gibbs', Abby's and Ducky's desks. Special Agent Caitlin Todd, the woman who had been here before me. I had heard a lot of stories about her, mostly from McGee, and now I wished that I could have met her, this tough former Secret Service agent. I noticed that her picture was in a position of prominence; there was no way he could not do his work without ending up glancing at it every four seconds. I made a mental note to ask him about that later.

I ran my fingers along the frame absentmindedly, but as I looked away, something under Tony's desk caught my eye, and I leaned back to get a better look.

It was a pillow. I smiled again, and I pulled it up. _Leave it to Tony to bring a pillow to work_. I put it behind my head, reclining back in his chair, and closed my eyes. I could smell a combination of his shampoo and aftershave, and I breathed in deep. I could almost pretend that he was here.

I fell asleep in the darkened office listening to the sound of Abby's calm breathing.

...

A harsh, metallic sound woke me up four hours later. I jerked awake and saw Abby scrambling for her cell phone, her pigtails wild and askew from sleeping on them.

"Sorry," she said, turning to McGee and apologizing for waking him up. Then I saw her look towards my empty desk.

"Where's...?"

"I am here, Abby," I said, lifting my head from Tony's desk. She turned to me and raised her eyebrows.

"Why where you sleeping on Tony's desk?" she asked, a mischevious glint in her eye that showed she spent too much time talking to DiNozzo.

"I was…just borrowing his pillow…" I said lamely. Both McGee and Abby were giving me weird looks.

"Sure…okay…"

Just then, I heard Gibbs' voice from above. "Are you guys coming or not?" he asked. I looked up, and saw him standing at the railing just outside MTAC. Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked through the doors.

"He's like the voice of God when he yells from up there, isn't he?" Abby said, chuckling to herself. "Makes me jump every time."

The three of us walked quickly up the stairs and followed Gibbs into MTAC. Director Shepard was standing there, talking to Gibbs and Leon and a quiet whisper.

Abby, McGee, and I filed silently into a row of seats near the back of the room, trying to be invisible. None of us were allowed to be there, and we could see Jenny and Leon determinedly looking the other way.

Suddenly, the screen flickered and a man in camouflage appeared on the screen.

"Special Agent Gibbs?" he inquired.

Gibbs stepped forward. "Yes. What happened?" It was not really a question.

"From what we can figure out, the convoy was attacked as it was going out of the IZ," the man said.

"Any survivors?"

"None, sir."

"And my agents?"

"We couldn't find them sir," the man said. "All the Marines that were with them have been accounted for and properly ID'd, but there is no sign of them."

"Have someone take pictures of the site and send them to me."

"Already done sir."

"Be prepared for me and two other agents to arrive tomorrow," Gibbs ordered. Both Jenny and Leon looked up sharply.

"I guess that is another one of Gibbs' heel –of-the-moment things, yes?" I asked McGee.

"Spur. Spur-of-the-moment. And yes. I think it is."

"Yessir," the Marine replied. Gibbs motioned for the transmission to be cut, and the screen went blank.

"Jethro!" Director Shepard's voice cut across the room like a knife, stopping Gibbs as he prepared to walk out of the room. He turned slowly, but did not say anything. What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

I looked at her. "Nope."

"You didn't clear this with me first!"

"That's because you'd say no!"

"And with good reason! I am not going to risk more agents over there where they have no protection!"

"They'll have protection."

"What, like what Tony and Nikki had? A full military escort was not enough to stop these people from that massacre! I'm saying no!"

"And I'm assuming you were planning on taking Agents McGee and David with you, am I correct?" Leon put in.

Gibbs nodded.

"You do realize you're signing her death warrant if you take her there," Jenny said.

"She's been there before, right Ziva?" Gibbs said, addressing me.

All eyes turned to me and I shrank away ever so slightly from the sudden attention. "Yes," I said finally. "I will be fine."

"And besides," Gibbs said. "I'm going to need a translator."

* * *

**TONY**

It was so dark when I regained consciousness that I couldn't tell if my eyes were open at first. But as my eyes adjusted, I saw a faint sliver of light on the far side of the room, coming from under the door. It was too faint to be anything but a flashlight or a candle. I listened closely for any sounds, but I heard none except my own labored breathing.

I lay still and checked to make sure I still had all the normal number of appendages. Feet…check. Legs…check. Fingers…check.

I was lying on my side, one arm pinned down under the weight of my body. It was numb, so I guessed I'd been in this position for a while. I tried to shift myself so I could free it, but as soon as I made any hint towards movement, my whole body protested. It was all I could do not to make any noise as I rolled over onto my back.

What had happened? The last thing I remembered was being discovered by men in black clothes. They had fired two shots into the boxes, too close to my head for comfort, then destroyed my cell phone. Judging from the giant lump on the back of my head, I guessed I'd probably been hit with the butt of a rifle. I noticed the protective gear I had been given by the Marines was gone; I was stripped down to my regular clothes.

I wondered frantically where Agent Jardine was. Was she alright? What had they done to her? I shuddered to think what horrible things Gibbs would do to me if he found out I'd lost her. I tried looking around, to see if she was in the same room I was in, but it was no use. It was frustrating, not being able to see anything.

The pain in my shoulder subsided to a dull ache as I lay still and tried to block it out. I touched it tenderly with my good hand, and discovered that it had been hastily bandaged up. I began to feel it tenderly to find exactly where the wound was, but I probed too hard and sent a sharp jolt of pain shooting up and down my arm. An involuntary groan escaped my lips.

Then there was a voice in the darkness.

"Tony?" Agent Jardine's voice, soft and hoarse, floated towards me through the darkness. "Is that you?"

"Nikki?" I murmured, my unused voice coming out as a stiff whisper. There was a metallic rattle, and then I felt her thin fingers brush my arm.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, concern etched in her voice.

"Like I've been shot," I replied sarcastically, unable to help myself.

I heard a strange sound coming from her direction, and it took me a second to realize she was laughing; in a strange and restricted sort of way. It sounded odd in the gloomy loneliness of this dark and unfamiliar room.

"Come closer," I said. "Can you help me up?"

"I…I can't, Tony," she replied sadly. "This is as close as I can get without you coming to me. We're separated by a row of bars."

I swore.

"Maybe if you stretch out your arm as far as you can towards me I can pull you closer to the bars," she suggested.

I extended my good arm in her direction, and I felt her grasp my hand tightly. Then, slowly, she pulled me the foot and a half I needed to reach the cold metal bars. Using Nikki's help, I gradually pulled myself into a sitting position, trying my hardest to keep from aggravating my injured shoulder. I took several deep breaths in order to keep from throwing up.

"They came in here once, about six hours ago, to wrap your shoulder up," Nikki said after awhile. "I could see the room a little in the light of the flashlight; it's full of cages."

"Are you serious? They're keeping us in cages?"

"Yes. We're the only ones in here at the moment, but judging from the smell I think this room must have been full at one point."

I leaned up against the bars, and Nikki sat next to me, our shoulders touching. I was glad she was there, and I think the physical contact that we kept for the next several hours was so we could reassure each other that this wasn't a dream, that we weren't alone in this horrible mess.

"Don't worry, Nikki," I found myself saying after awhile. "Gibbs will come for us."

"If they come back in, pretend to be unconscious," Nikki warned. "I caught snatches of their conversation when they came in; but I didn't hear much. I think they know I can speak Arabic. And they know we're from a government agency, so they're holding us for ransom."

"That's good news," I said.

"How?"

"It means they aren't going to kill us right away."

"But you still think they might?"

"I wouldn't totally throw out that option…no."

We fell silent again, and I kept my eyes fixed on the little strip of light across the room, looking for any sign of movement, any sign that someone would be coming for us. My stomach grumbled hungrily and I wondered out loud when I last had something decent to eat.

"They gave me some bread when I first woke up," Nikki said. "It was stale, but it wasn't bad. "

There was a rattling sound, and I heard the locks click in the heavy door in front of us.

"Hit the deck," I murmured, and I leaned over so I was lying on the floor again. Nikki shifted herself away from me, to throw off suspicion that we'd been talking to each other.

Light filled the room, and I opened my eyelids just a crack to get a better look at the room under the glow of the flashlight our captors carried. Nikki was right…it was full of small eight foot cages. I counted about ten of them right off, but there was probably about twice as many in the entire room. I heard keys jingling, and the door to my cage opened with the screech of rusted metal. A man walked in and hit me across the face.

"Wake up," he demanded in a thick accent. My face stung, but I didn't let it show. I didn't get up and I didn't move from my spot on the floor.

Rough hands lifted me up and slammed me against the wall. My wounded shoulder screamed at me, and I slid down it, unable to hold myself up.

Our captors spoke harshly in Arabic to each other for a couple more moments, then turned to me again. The one who spoke was backlighted by the flashlight, so all I could see was his dark silhouette.

"Come with us," he commanded. His English was harsh and broken, but you couldn't mistake the demand in his voice.

"Why?" I asked, my voice full of the bravado and aggressiveness I didn't really feel. "You don't want to kill me in front of her?"

The man shoved me up against the wall again, and I could smell the sharp scent of cigarettes on his breath. "I could kill you now," he hissed threateningly. I was suddenly aware of a knife at my throat. It was pressing into my neck uncomfortably.

"I don't think so," I said lightly. "I'm thinking that if that's what you came in here for, you would have done it already."

There was an intense silence as we both stared each other down. The man released me and I slid down to the floor again, internally cursing my weakness.

"Unfortunately, Agent DiNozzo, we need you alive."

* * *

**-insert dramatic music here- **

**"Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode..."**


	3. Threats

**Yay! i'm updating! I know it's taking me a while, but bear with me. School is almost out and I'll have more time to do stuff. **

**That is, until I go to college in the fall.**

**One thing I'd like to point out here: Things are unrealistic because I have the power to make anything happen in here that I want. :) But, I try to make things _seem_ realistic enough at first glance.**

**I have skillz. :)**

**This chapter is the shortest chapter I think I have ever done in my entire writing career. But the stoppong place came up sooner than I intended. Do not fear, however...I see longer chapters and more frequent updates in your future...**

* * *

CHAPTER 3

**TONY**

I was forcefully pulled to my feet again, and this time I was helped roughly through the door of my cage.

"Bring him in here, gentlemen," an unfamiliar voice called from the next room, the one with the light. Harsh Arabic voices consulted with each other for a moment, and I was then dragged into the next room.

Even the dim light of the two candles was enough to hurt my eyes after hours in the pitch darkness. I squinted, and was able to see a wooden table on one side of the room, surrounded by about five chairs. A couple of cheap handguns rested on the top, in the middle of a dirty stack of cards, and a row of AK-47's was lined up against the nearest dirt wall; way more than was strictly necessary for the four people that I could see. Did that mean there were more people here?

A door was located on the far side of the room from me, and it looked like it was made of metal. I saw a heavy duty combination lock about halfway up.

"Over here, Mr. DiNozzo, if you please," the calm voice said, a faint hint of a British accent laced in his words. I looked in the direction of the sound and spotted a man, about my height and in a crisp white suit that seemed wildly out of place in this dingy hole in the ground. His face was strategically placed in shadow, disguising his features.

_Not that I was in any position to identify him anyway,_ I thought to myself as my eyes slid in and out of focus.

"Please, have a seat," the man said genially, gesturing with his hand as if we were simply at a posh garden party or something.

I was shoved roughly into one of the hard wooden chairs.

"You know, I think I saw this in a movie once," I started to say, but I was cut off as a fist appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the right side of my face.

"You will speak only when spoken to," the mysterious man said. I turned and glared at both him and the man who had hit me, but I refrained from saying anything.

"How do you find your stay, Agent DiNozzo?"

"It's no five star hotel," I said, sarcasm etched minutely into my voice. "But I've been in worse."

The man laughed, a chilling sound that I thought was only manageable in horror movies. "Wonderful," he said, clasping his hands together and leaning forward enough so his face was barely covered by the darkness. "Tell me, are you important to NCIS?"

What kind of a question was that? I decided to play dumb. "Um, not at all," I responded. "I mean, I'm only a Probie, you know. I haven't worked on more than five cases."

"Then I guess they would not care if we killed you then?"

I felt the man behind me press something sharp and unpleasant into the back of my neck.

"Uh…nope. Go ahead," I bluffed. _You're really stupid, Anthony,_ I scolded myself. _Stop being stupid…_

"Do not lie to me, Agent DiNozzo," White Suit Man said. "I know for a fact that you have been working at NCIS for many years. And a senior field agent, yes? I believe you were even in charge of your own team for a while."

"Then what are you asking me for?"

"I wanted to see if you would lie; to see if you would sacrifice yourself for your agency. Apparently, you are the right man for this job."

Even though I couldn't see him, I knew this mysterious man was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. I could almost see the teeth glowing in the semi-darkness.

Then, suddenly, his tone changed completely.

"Enough games, Agent DiNozzo," he said sharply. "Tell me what you know about Marsden case!"

What? All this was about a freaking case?

"I don't know!" I said, being completely honest this time. "Do I look like the type of person who would memorize case files? You're going to have to give me more to go on."

I was hit across the face again.

"I know you know!" the man in white practically screamed. "Tell me!"

"Why? So I can feel guilty about committing a federal crime by revealing elements of a case to a potential terrorist? I don't think so."

Another hit. I could taste blood now, and I figured my lip was split open. Great. The sharp pointy object that I had been threatened with earlier came back, this time pressing into the front of my throat.

"And what would killing me prove?" I asked calmly; much more calmly than I actually felt. "Even if I _did_ know what you wanted, you wouldn't be able to get it from me after that. And dead agents are a really horrible bargaining tool, if you know what I mean. NCIS doesn't pay ransom on bodies."

After a really intense four seconds, the man in the suit snapped his fingers angrily. The knife was pulled away from my neck and I breathed a sigh of relief.

There was a clicking sound from the other side of the metal door, and it swung open slowly. I man walked in, carrying a laptop.

"One minute, sir," he said to White Suit Man, in perfect American English. "Where would you like it?"

"There is fine," he said sharply, pointing to a spot against the wall to my right. Two of my original kidnappers picked up the small wooden table and set it where the man indicated and the new guy set the laptop on top of it and began typing furiously.

* * *

**ZIVA**

Gibbs, Leon, and Director Shepard were still arguing. I looked over at McGee with a wary expression. We both knew that we were going to Baghdad, no matter how the debate turned out. Gibbs always got his way.

I was so caught up in the argument, I did not notice the satellite screen flickering until Abby nudged me.

"Look," she said, pointing. "It's not supposed to be doing that."

We stared a moment longer, and then something began to appear on the screen. Everything was dark except for a dim light in the back, casting light on the silhouettes of the two dark shadows on the screen.

"Let me know if this is a bad time for you," a calm British voice said.

The arguing stopped abruptly and everyone turned to the screen.

Gibbs was the first one to gather his bearing. "And just who are you?" he demanded.

"My name is not important, Special Agent Gibbs," the voice said. There was a few moments of intense silence.

"Obviously you want something. Go ahead and spit it out," Gibbs said in his usual abrupt manner.

"I want the entire case file for the Marsden incident," the shadowed man said. "Everything. By the end of the week."

"Or what?"

"Or the rest of Agent DiNozzo's life will be really short," the man said. Suddenly, the second figure was bathed in light. The man who had spoken was no longer in the frame, and all we could see was Tony. He was slumped over in his chair, evidence of abuse heavily evident on his face. His lip was bleeding profusely, and one of his eyes was turning purple. There was a dark stain covering his right shoulder and the top of his chest. The sleeves had been ripped off of his shirt, and the combat pants he was wearing also had nasty dark stains on them. There was a giant gash above his left eyebrow that seemed to still be bleeding a little.

"Tony!" I cried out loud, catching myself too late.

He lifted his head up a little at the sound of my voice. "Ziva?" I heard him whisper, then the light on him was cut off. The first man came back into the camera's view again.

"The end of the week, Special Agent Gibbs. The whole file. I'll be waiting."

The connection was cut and the screen went blank.

I could not tear my eyes away from it. I prayed with my entire heart that the picture would come back, that they would show Tony again.

I turned and fixed my gaze on Gibbs, and I was surprised to find him looking back at me.There was steel in his grey eyes, laced with the intense concern for Tony that everyone was feeling. He turned to look at McGee, who had walked up to stand next to me.

"Can you guys be ready in two hours?" he asked.

"You can get a plane ticket one such short notice?" McGee asked, amazed.

"I'm the director of a federal agency, McGee," Director Shepard cut in. "I have the power to basically control the airport if it has any connection to an investigation."

"Oh."

"What are you standing there for, McGee?" Gibbs demanded, reverting to his usual state of irritated gruffness. "Go home and get packing!"

McGee and I scrambled out the door, followed closely by Abby.

"Oh, I wish I was going with you!" the Goth girl said, trying to hold back tears. "But Tony will be okay now. Because Gibbs is coming for him!"

I smiled at the girl's firm belief in Gibbs' superhuman powers as I pulled open my desk drawer and snatched out my badge and my gun, stuffing them into my bag. McGee was doing the same thing on the other side of the room.

Suddenly, Abby pulled me and McGee into a fierce group hug as I made my way around my desk on my way towards the elevator.

"I know you don't like hugs, but I'm forcing you to suck it up for right now," she said to me. "You're going on a long trip and this is for good luck."

"Thank you Abby," I said, and I walked to the elevator with McGee.

"Take care of Timmy!" I heard her shout as the doors closed.

"Why does everyone say that?" McGee asked. "It's not like I'm helpless."

"I know, McGee," I said. "But you are still the probie, yes? I guess we all feel a little protective of you."

McGee sighed. "It's never going to go away, is it?" he asked.

"No, I do not think so," I said, smiling. "But it is only a burden if you make it so."

He thought about that for a moment. "Thanks Ziva," he said finally.

As the elevator doors opened to reveal the parking garage, McGee offered to pick me up at my house.

"It'll be more convenient," he explained. "Long term parking at the airport is expensive and your apartment is on the way."

"Alright, McGee," I said, getting into the front seat of my red mini Cooper. I looked at the digital clock. It read 5:15 AM. Had it really been only fifteen minutes since I'd woken up to Abby's crazy ringtone? "See you at six thirty, then," I replied, shutting my door. He waved in acknowledgement, and I drove out of the parking lot at forty seven miles an hour.

* * *

**So...what did everyone thing about the Jimmy Palmer-centric episode this week? He is so _weird_...but I love him anyway...he kinda reminds me of my brother. **


	4. Bullets

**So yeah. Senior prom was last night. It's my reason for not having this up yesterday. **

**And now I'm super tired. I guess this is what I get for staying out until four in the morning. **

**But I tried to get all my mistakes and grammatical atrocities out...though if I missed one feel free to point it out. It won't hurt my feelings. I promise. **

* * *

CHAPTER 4

**ZIVA**

After spending years in Washington D.C. I had forgotten how hot Baghdad could be. The sharp memory of the heat had faded and been replaced by the snowy, much chillier climate of North America. I began peeling off my layers of clothing almost as soon as McGee, Gibbs, and I had gotten off the transatlantic plane ride.

Before I could do much else, however, a heavy military escort met us on the runway, ushering us into giant Hummers the size of small buildings.

"We'll take you where you're staying first-" the officer in charge said.

"I want to see the crime scene," Gibbs demanded, cutting the man off. I flinched at the phrase 'crime scene'. It had the haunting overtone of death associated with it, and it was the last thing I wanted to think about.

_You're going to be okay, Tony, _I thought hard, as if I could project my reassuring thoughts to him. _Gibbs will find you._

"I'm afraid you're going to have to wait, Special Agent Gibbs," the Marine Captain said. "I have orders, and they come from someone higher up than you."

"So you're expecting me to just sit back and wait for you to be ready while members of my team are in danger?" There was a steely edge to Gibbs' voice.

"I'm sorry sir, but those are the rules," the Captain said, turning back around in his seat and seeming unfazed. "You are not allowed out of the IZ without a military escort. It's too dangerous."

"And what about Special Agents Jardine and DiNozzo?" Gibbs challenged.

"They had to wait for one too."

"And look where that got them!"

"Sir, I unders-"

"Listen to me, Captain. The whole point of this mission is to avoid another massacre like the one that happened yesterday. How do you think that's going to work if you present the shooters with the exact same circumstances? There is a better chance for minimal casualties if we do this quietly."

"But sir, I cannot allow you to leave the IZ unescorted."

"Then escort us yourself!" Gibbs snapped. "Four people are going to attract far less attention that fifty."

The captain seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, but of course, Gibbs' cold logic won out. "Fine," the captain agreed. "But we're still going to the hangar first. I thought you might want to…we have left DiNozzo's and Jardine's things there. They haven't been touched."

Gibbs seemed slightly satisfied with that, and he sat back as we continued on our bumpy ride. I was wedged in between McGee and the window, and every time the vehicle bounced, McGee was shifted onto me.

"Ouch!" I said for the umpteenth time as my right leg was crushed yet again by McGee.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry Ziva," the younger agent apologized quickly. "I don't mean to…"

"It is alright, McGee," I said exasperatingly. "I know it is not your fault. What goes up, must come down, am I correct?"

He nodded, but still looked sheepish.

"Are we there yet?" I asked Gibbs, much like an older sibling being annoyed by a younger one on a car trip.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "We'll get there when we get there," came his generic response, and his gruff tone was more for show I think than actual annoyance.

Ten minutes and multiple bruises later, the Hummers stopped at a very rundown and dirty looking airplane hangar.

"They stayed here?" I asked, after I practically fell out of the car, followed shortly and less gracefully by McGee.

"There's not much in the way of five-star hotels here, Agent David," the captain said.

"Yes, I know that," I responded. "But when I was here with Mossad we at least had-"

"Can we go in now, Captain?" Gibbs asked, cutting me off.

"Yes."

I followed McGee and Gibbs through the ridged metal doors and into the shadowy hangar.

"There," I pointed, seeing Tony's bag almost immediately upon entering. I made my way towards it, and as I was about to open his bag, a hand gripped my shoulder.

"Why don't you take Agent Jardine's things?" Gibbs asked. I did not miss the thinly veiled command hidden in his tone. "I'm sure she would prefer that."

What was this? Gibbs was actually concerned with what other people felt?

Though confused, I made my way through the intense clutter left behind by Nikki. How could someone who was so afraid of germs and so clean cut be _so messy_?

After a quick scan through her bag, I announced to Gibbs that there was nothing in there.

"Just clothes and a laptop," I said.

"Same with Tony," McGee said. "His laptop is here."

"When was the last time his was used, McGee?" Gibbs asked as he walked around the other vacant cots.

"Umm, about 2330 local time two days ago, boss," he said after some quick typing. "That was the webcam conversation he had with me, Abby, and Ziva."

"And Jardine's?"

I picked up Nikki's laptop and examined it. It looked shiny, and a lot newer than Tony's. The thin protective plastic film was still over the screen and the keyboard.

"It was never used, Gibbs," I said, curiosity etched in my voice.

"Odd," McGee said unnecessarily.

"You think?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.

In the end, there was not anything in their stuff that could give us any clues as to where Tony and Nikki could be.

McGee and I followed Gibbs as he marched outside.

"Captain!" he shouted. "Let's go!"

The Marine Captain that had escorted us from the airport came around from the other side of the closest Hummer. His camo was gone, and was now dressed in plainclothes and combat boots, an AK-47 slung over his shoulder.

"Alright. This way," he said, and started walking down the dirt road.

"How far away did the ambush occur?" I heard Gibbs asked as he fell in step with the Captain.

"About five miles."

"And were going to walk that whole way?" McGee asked, a hint of despair in his voice.

"It's called exercise, McGee," I said, patting him on his shoulder. At my suggestion, he had ripped the sleeves off of his T-shirt, which was an old grey one from MIT. Tony would have laughed at him, but I thought he looked nice. "We cannot exactly drive up in one of the Hummers. It would give us away, yes? But it is going to be fine. Five miles is not as long as you think."

"No. It's going to seem longer because of the heat."

"Will you two stop complaining about the weather?" Gibbs snapped. "Suck it up. We've got bigger problems to work out here, or did you forget?"

"No boss. Sorry boss. Won't happen again boss," McGee mumbled, immediately humbled and acquiescing.

It took us almost three hours and ten bottles of water before we got to the square where Tony and Jardine were captured.

"Here it is," the Captain announced unnecessarily. I could see the bullet holes all over the buildings around us, and one of the houses still had a Hummer connected to it.

"We've gotten all the bodies out of the area," he continued. "But the owner of the building there won't let us pull that last Hummer out. Won't even let us get near the place."

I did not hear anymore. I had noticed a row of crates that had been stacked on the Baghdad version of a sidewalk. Chunks of it had been blown away from shrapnel, and I could still see bullets that had been stopped by the thick wood. I knelt down, and pulled out my knife. Some of the radical groups used a particular brand of ammunition, and maybe if the bullet was still recognizable I could make a pretty definite guess on who we were up against. I stuck the blade in the hole, and wiggled it around the small lump of metal until it came free and dropped into my hand.

"McGee, hand me your phone," I said, holding my hand out. "I need a picture of this to send to Abby."

"Doesn't your phone take pictures?" he asked, like I had just asked him to give me his soul or something.

"Yes, but your phone takes better quality pictures," I snapped. "Hand it to me, please."

Reluctantly, McGee put his iPhone tenderly into my waiting fingers. I focused the camera on the bullet as best I could, then sent the picture to Abby.

"What was that all about, Ziva?" Gibbs asked, coming over to me.

"If Abby can tell me what this bullet is made of, then I can tell you who exactly is targeting us."

Two minutes later, Abby called me.

"I found out everything I could from that picture you sent, Ziva, but I-"

"Hold on, Abby," I said. A shriveled old man had come running out of one of the buildings , shouting at Gibbs and the captain.

"Ziva!" Gibbs shouted. "Come here and tell me what he's saying!"

"I'll call you back," Abby said, and I heard a click. I put my phone in my pocket and hurried over.

"He's shouting obscenities at you," I said after a moment of listening.

"I didn't ask for a paraphrase of what he was saying, Ziva. I asked for exactly _what he was saying_."

"Um…through the random screaming, all I can understand is 'American Bastards' and that your mothers are both whores."

"That's nice," the captain said dryly.

"Yes, but beyond that it is just unintelligible screeching."

The man got closer, his yelling became louder, and Gibbs and I put our hands on our guns.

I caught a glimpse of a shadow over the old man's shoulder. "Gibbs," I whispered. "Up on the grey building…"

"I see him."

"Do you want me to shoot him?"

"Not until he gives us a reason to."

I watched the new stranger nervously out of the corner of my eye. It had stopped moving now, and was bending down.

I saw a flash as the bright sun flashed on metal.

"Gibbs…" I warned, my voice strained.

There was a loud shot as the gun was fired. The old man stopped speaking abruptly, and I felt blood splash my face as the bullet exited the front of his skull and went flying through the gap between me and Gibbs. He toppled slowly to the ground, hitting it with a sickening thud. More shots echoed, and I spun around. There was more than one shooter here. I flung McGee and myself behind a car as passers-by screamed and ran for their houses and cars. I saw Gibbs and the captain crouching behind a vacated food stall, guns out and shooting back.

"Where are they?" McGee asked me frantically. "I can't see where they're shooting from!"

"The windows, McGee," I snapped, shooting three bullets through a darkened window across the street from me. "And the rooftops. Where else would snipers be?"

"Oh…"

I saw him raise his gun, tentatively searching the surrounding windows that I hadn't already cleared.

"But what if I hit a civilian?"

"They have learned to stay away from the windows," I said.

Gradually, the shooting stopped. I looked over towards Gibbs and the captain, and saw him motion for us to stay down.

"What do we do now?"

"I think Gibbs has a plan," I answered, and we both turned to watch as Gibbs slowly got up from behind the stall.

There was a loud crack as a gun was fired, and Gibbs ducked back down behind the stall again.

I looked around, and saw the shadow on the rooftop right before it disappeared.

Gibbs saw it too. "Ziva! McGee! Get him…carefully."

"On it, boss," I said, drifting into Tony's familiar colloquialism without realizing it. I ran off towards the building, chasing after the shadow that had disappeared. I flung myself through the door, my gun held in front of me.

"Clear!" I shouted as McGee burst in after me. There was nothing around that I could see. No furniture, no windows, no people. Just an empty, dusty building.

"Upstairs!" McGee hissed as soft thumps echoed on the ceiling.

I scanned around and caught sight of a rickety flight of stairs in the far corner. I ran for them.

"Ziva!" McGee whispered after me. "We should wait for Gibbs!"

"But what if he's the one that took Tony?" I asked. "What if he's going there right now?" I crept up the stairs as silently as I could, my gun still held out in front of me.

**

* * *

**

TONY

I was thrown back into my cage, hitting the floor hard. After the door slammed I heard Nikki call my name, but I couldn't move, nor did I have the strength to acknowledge her.

"Tony!" she said again. "Say something, please…"

"Ouch," I managed to mumble after a moment.

"Oh, Tony, what happened?" she asked, reaching through the bars separating us and brushing the tips of her fingers on my arm gently. "What did they do to you?"

It was another moment before I could get the power to respond.

"They just slapped me around a little," I said, trying to put a light tone in my voice. "I've gotten worse beatings."

She tried to laugh, but it came out weak and strained.

"And they hacked into MTAC," I said.

"What? McGee said that was impossible."

"Yeah, well, they have a better hacker working for them than McGee can ever hope to be," I said. "I couldn't even see the guy's fingers, they were moving so fast."

"But why?" Nikki asked.

"They want something called the Marsden casefile," I replied. "And I have no idea what that is. But they're using us as bait to get NCIS to give it to them."

"So they talked to the director via MTAC, then?"

"Yeah, and they had freaky timing about it, too because I could see Gibbs and Director Leon there, along with Director Shepard. I think Gibbs called her off her vacation as soon as he heard about what happened to us."

"By the sound of it, I think they just hacked into the system and hoped someone was there."

"Yeah…I don't think they're that lucky though," I mused. "I think they knew that they were going to be in MTAC ten minutes ago."

"But who were they talking to before…that Gibbs and Director Shepard had to be there?" Nikki asked, confused.

"I'm betting they were talking to the Marines here. I'm sure they were curious as to why we didn't make it back to the IZ today." I let out a sadistic chuckle.

"What are you laughing about?" Nikki asked.

"I'm just imagining what Gibbs will do when he gets over here," I said, still laughing. "I feel sorry for anyone who pisses him off today."

"Gibbs is coming?"

"Oh yeah, definitely…even if he loses his job over it."

"He'll risk his job for us?"

"You don't know Gibbs very well, do you?" I asked.

Silence surrounded us again, and Nikki continued to reach out to me, letting me know that she was still here. I began to shake after a while, and I didn't know if it was from the cold floor or the fact that my body was just now catching up with everything that had happened to it today. Either way, I had to get up off the dirt floor. I managed to pull myself up, using the bars that separated me and Nikki. She helped me lean up against the wall.

"That really hurts," I said, breathing heavily.

"You should take it easy for a while," Nikki said. "Just sit there and rest your shoulder."

"So you mean I can't get up and run to the grocery store?" I asked sarcastically.

"You know what I meant. No moving unless it's necessary; and no ticking off the people in the other room. We don't want to give them any more excuses to make things worse."

I sighed. "Fine."

Nikki and I sat in the dark for hours, saying nothing, doing nothing. I heard no voices coming from the other side of the door, and no one came in to check on us. We ended up falling asleep, leaning against the bars that separated us. Nikki still kept a tight hold on my upper arm, the one that wasn't injured. When she first started doing it, I thought it was so she could enforce the "Don't Move" policy, but after several hours I began to think that she was holding onto me just so that we both knew each other was there.

And I was glad for that. The darkness was nearly impenetrable, and it was nice to know that I wasn't alone.

I drifted in and out of consciousness; because that was the only way I could get any relief from the severe pain I was in. Once, someone came in with food, setting the tray down just inside the bars. Nikki crawled towards them, managing to grab my tray for me.

It seemed like an eternity that we sat there in the darkness. I couldn't tell how long. Days...weeks…years…one black minute faded into the next as Nikki and I sat in our cages. We stopped talking; there was no difference between sleep and wakefulness anymore.

Then, all of a sudden, the door between us and the candlelit room was flung open. The metal of my cage rattled unpleasantly as the door was flung open. There was a thud, and the cage on my other side was abruptly occupied.

* * *

**Uh oh! Who was thrown in the cage? IT'S A MYSTERY! -insert dramatic music here- And you're just going to have to wait until I update again (hopefully soon). **

**And who's super sad about the season finale? (I'm going to go on a rant about it now, so if you haven't seen it then I suggest not reading the rest of this paragragh) Poor Jenny. And poor Gibbs! I just wanted to give him a hug. But at least she went out with a bang, right? I was afraid that they would kill her off with that disease they were hinting at (does anyone know what that was?) which would not have been cool. And stupid Leon! He broke up the team! I mean, _what the hell_, man? But my mother and I have a theory. We think that he's a bad guy (because he shredded something from his own file, remember) and that Gibbs is going to find out and save the day and everything will be alright again. Because Gibbs is completely amazing and can do stuff like that. **

**Yep. Mom and I are the biggest freaks about this show. We even named Dad's jeep Jethro. **

**And on a completely superficial and shallow note: Jimmy Palmer looked really especially hot in that episode. Like, noticeably. Did anyone else catch that? **


	5. Captured

**So yeah...I'm updating, aren't you proud of me? :)**

**This is all in Ziva's point of view, btw. It's exciting, and action-packed, and crazy awesome. **

**Well...I think so anyway. **

**And I'm not really good at editing my own stuff, so all mistakes are mine. Unless someone wants the horrible job of being my beta (That includes having to read all my crap and correct my atrocious mistakes and read my rants of how much I hate writers block when I run out of ideas. And then sharing the blame when someone finds a mistake. You have been warned.)**

**And prom was awesome, for those of you who wanted to know. I had an absolutely fantastical time. There was this weird balloon sculpture there...My date and I spent most of the time staring at it, trying to figure out if it was an octopus, a jellyfish, or one of those cool jester hats. It didn't make any sense any way you sliced it...because the theme was supposed to be _Casablanca_. **

* * *

CHAPTER 5

**ZIVA**

I crept silently towards the stairs, but McGee grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"We are going to wait for Gibbs," he said, attempting to put the firm note in his voice that we had both heard Tony and Gibbs use.

It was too easy to shrug him off. "No, McGee," I said, and I made my way up the stairs, carefully to let the old wood squeak.

I heard him start to follow me, and I whirled around.

"Go back down the stairs!" I said. "I got this!"

"Do you know how much Tony would kill me if I let you go anywhere without back up?"

I knew he had a point, but I didn't answer him. I just wrenched myself out of his grasp and proceeded up the stairs.

"Ziva!"

I did a quick three-sixty and hissed "Clear!" to McGee, who was behind me, panting slightly and sweating through his sleeveless T-shirt.

I could see no one, but I walked carefully around. Maybe they were hiding. My phone buzzed and I took it out slowly and looked at the caller-id.

_Gibbs_.

I wordlessly handed the phone back to McGee, who flipped it open and answered it.

"McGee."

"Where's Ziva?" I heard Gibbs demand loudly. McGee held the phone a little away from his ear to protect his eardrums. I kept walking slowly forward, scoping out the area, my eyes peeled for our shadowy assassin.

"She's right here, boss," McGee whispered.

"Tell her that you are both to get your sorry asses out here right now and stop poking around! We can't afford any accidents here!"

"Yessir." He snapped the phone shut and handed it back to me. I shoved it back into my pocket.

A shadow flitted on the edge of my vision, and I crept forward some more. The boards under my feet began to feel a little soft, but against my better judgment, I trusted my weight on them anyway. I was really close now. Maybe he was part of the group keeping Tony captive…

There was a loud groan under my feet that did not register in my brain until too late. The floor gave way under my feet and I fell. My gun flew out of my hands as I reached for something to grab onto before I crashed onto the floor ten feet below.

A hand reached out and grabbed mine just in time, and I dangled.

"Thank you, McGee," I said as I got over the initial shock. I looked up; expecting to see the round, fearful face of my friend, but it was not McGee who had saved me.

It was the shadowy man, his face obscured completely by a black cloth. I looked around, and McGee was kneeling on the opposite side of the hole, obviously in the act of trying to grab me.. Through the intense stillness that occupied the next four seconds, I could hear Gibbs' voice indistinctly shouting outside.

The shadowy man grabbed his gun and pointed it at McGee, who immediately raised both hands and backed off, dropping his gun, as we had been trained to do. The man holding onto me stood up, pulling me back over the edge as he did so. He held onto me, so tight that I could feel my hand losing circulation. I was not able to move. I could not get any of my other weapons, and my gun had fallen down the hole.

There was a huge noise as Gibbs and the captain burst in, guns waving; I could see them through the hole in the floor.

"Back off, Agent Gibbs," My captor shouted in a heavy accent, pulling me up so I shielded his body from Gibbs, his gun still pointed at McGee. "Back off or I shoot."

"What do you want?" Gibbs demanded, lowering his gun only slightly.

"The Marsden file. All of it."

"And if I don't give it to you?"

"Then you will lose agents, one by one," the shadowed man said. "And you will not get them back."

And with that, I was yanked backwards. The last thing I heard was Gibbs' yell and a gunshot, and then my vision went black as something was tied across my eyes.

"You make a sound, and I'll shoot you," the voice of my kidnapper hissed in my ear. I was then hit in the back of the head, hard. It was not enough to knock me unconscious, but I think it was intended to. I just went limp anyway, and tried to ignore the pain that was shooting through my head. There was a shot, and it took all my self control not to show any sign that I had heard. _Was it McGee? Did he shoot Gibbs?_ Inside, I was tearing myself apart; praying that they were okay. There was another shot, a thud, and then I felt myself being dragged quickly along.

"Ziva!" Gibbs shouted again, his voice echoing up from below and seeming _very_ far away.

Left, right, left, down a flight of wooden stairs, hard left again…I tried to keep track of where I was, but it was impossible with the confusing route and the fuzzy state my mind was in.

Then we stopped, and I heard clicking and knocking on what seemed like a metal door. I opened my eyes a little to see, but I remembered that I had a blindfold on.

Voices, slightly tinged in anger, sounded as the metal door was opened.

"_What is she doing here?" _I heard them say in Arabic as I was brought in.

"_Followed me. Couldn't get rid of her. The Americans are here," _my kidnapper responded.

"_She doesn't look American."_

"_I think she's Mossad."_

"_Mossad is after us too?"_

"_I do not think so."_

There was a long pause, and then I was being moved again.

"_Put her in with the others."_

Another door opened, and then I was suddenly and violently released. I fell forward and slammed into the ground, which seemed to be compacted dirt. Hands patted me down roughly and removed all three of my concealed guns.

I lay still for a moment until I heard my captors close the door again and I was surrounded by silence. Slowly, I moved my hand and lifted the blindfold from my eyes.

At first, I couldn't register any change, because the room I was in was so dark. Then, as my eyes adjusted, I could dimly see metal bars about two feet to my left.

My eyes snapped open and I jerked up.

I was in a cage.

"Who's there?" a quiet and very shaky voice called from somewhere in the darkness off to my left.

"Nikki?" I responded incredulously. "Is that you?"

"Ziva!" she choked out hoarsely. "You're here! Are you hurt? What's go-"

"Nikki, calm down…" I said, interrupting. "Where's Tony?"

"He's in the cage between us," she responded in a subdued voice.

"Tony?" I called, praying he would answer.

He didn't.

"He hasn't spoken for several hours," Nikki said sadly. "But I can hear him breathing."

I listened very hard and I could hear the ragged sound of air struggling to come in and out of Tony's lungs. He did not sound good.

"The cages are only about eight feet wide," Nikki continued. "If you stretch your arm through the bars you might be able to reach him."

I pressed myself into the bars separating me and Tony and I groped around in the darkness for him until my fingers grazed the side of his arm.

"On the phone, you said he was shot," I murmured to Nikki. "Where?"

"On his right shoulder," she replied. "And then when they took him into that other room yesterday they beat him up pretty bad. It's so dark in here that I couldn't see what was wrong with him, and you know Tony; he kept saying he was fine up until he became unconscious."

I gently ran my fingers up and down Tony's arm. "Tony…wake up, please…" I said. "Wake up…"

I was still and silent as I waited for any sign that he had heard me.

"Ziva…?" I heard him whisper faintly after what seemed like an eternity.

"Tony! Tony, I'm here…please talk to me…"

"Ziva, where are you?" he asked softly.

"I'm right here, next to you," I said soothingly.

"In the cage?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Yes, but I'm not hurt," I said, trying to head off any of his worries. "Gibbs is here in Baghdad, and so is McGee. They're going to find us, don't worry." I stroked what I could reach of his arm with my fingertips. "Come closer to me, Tony," I whispered.

For once, he did not make one of his jokes, although I would gladly have taken one if it meant he was feeling okay.

But apparently he was not.

"Give me your hand," I said, stretching my arm through the bars even more; it was starting to hurt as they pressed harder into me. "Please."

His arm moved slowly, and soon I was able to grab his hand. I entwined my fingers so tightly in his that it would take a pro wrestler with a crowbar to pry us apart.

"Where are you hurt?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Ziva…" he said.

"You are not fine," I said, a little sharply. "I know you've been shot. What else has happened to you?"

"I got smacked in the face a couple of times," he admitted after a while. "But it's nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing. I can tell you are hurting."

"I'm feeling better now though…" he said softly.

He did not speak again and I just sat there, pressed against the cold metal bars, holding on tight to Tony's hand. I wondered if McGee and Gibbs were alright…I had heard two shots. Were they okay? I shifted positions, trying to make myself more comfortable.

Something bulging in my pocket was digging into me painfully. With my free hand, I pulled my cell phone out and flipped it open.

Just as I figured: No signal.

I was sharply reminded of something. Abby! What had she found out about the bullet? Had she tried calling me back yet? I set the phone on the floor and stabbed in the number I had memorized with shaking fingers.

The call did not go through, though. But I had expected that.

"Ziva?" Nikki's whispered voice echoed through the darkness. "You still have your cell phone?"

"Yes," I said. "But I do not have any signal."

"That's what I thought. But it's nice to have a little light."

A thought struck me. I flipped my phone open again and held it up as high as I could, trying to shine the feeble light as much as I can.

And there was Tony, lying on the floor. A dark stain covered his right shoulder and ran down his arm. I could see that there was a hasty bandage wrapped around the actual wound, but it did not look like it helped much. There was a dark bruise on his face, turned black by the greenish light.

Then I flipped to Nikki. She was looking at me with wide eyes that reflected the light in the darkness. There was a large gash over her left eyebrow and a couple of bruises, but otherwise nothing seemed to be wrong with her.

"They didn't shoot me," she said subdued. "I'm alright, really."

"We were so scared for you guys," I said after a while, feeling like I needed something to say. "When we got the phone call…"

"How did you find us?" Nikki asked. "How did you get here?"

"Gibbs, McGee, and I were in the square where you were ambushed," I said. "And we were caught in a shootout. Nobody was hurt, but McGee and I chased someone into the building across the street from where you wrecked, and as we followed him up a flight of stairs, he ambushed us. He took me and shot at Gibbs and McGee." My voice cracked a little on that last sentence, showing my worry, betraying my emotions.

"Did he hit them?" came Tony's voice, taking me by surprise.

"I…I don't know," I admitted. "I was blindfolded. I heard Gibbs yelling as they dragged me away, however."

"But McGeek was up there with you, when you-"

"Yes. He was right behind me." There was a horrible silence that ensued as all three of us unwillingly pondered what could have happened to McGee.

"Do you know where we are?" Tony asked.

"Somewhere under the square where you were attacked," I replied. "We went down a lot of stairs and took a lot of turns. If we somehow managed to get out, I do not think I would be able to get us back to the surface."

**

* * *

**

So I'm pretty sure that you all saw that one coming. I'm trying not to be so predictable, but I needed to find _some_ way to get Ziva in the cages.

Now I have to go, because I have a date. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll post more soon.


	6. Death

**Okay. This chapter is kinda violent and graphic. Sorry...it just kinda turned out that way. **

**Umm...I'm staying up WAY too late just so I could finish this chapter for you guys. So all mistakes are mine and the result of me being tired. **

**So, on a random note: I went to see the new Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, last Sunday. IT WAS SO TOTALLY AWESOME! And Prince Caspian was incredibly hot. :) I was spazzing out the whole time. And his Spanish accent!! I kept waiting for him to go "My name is Prince Caspian. You killed my father. Prepare to die." (If you've seen the movie _The Princess Bride_ the you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven't, then go watch it. Right now. Don't even read this chapter until you've seen it. I mean it.)**

**Okay. I'm rambling again about nothing. Another sign that I should go to sleep before I say something stupid.**

**I tend to do that when I'm tired. **

* * *

CHAPTER 6

**ZIVA**

There was a loud noise that echoed from the other side of the door, jerking me sharply awake from my state of semi-consciousness. Another bang rattled the door, shaking the bars separating me and Tony.

"What the hell?" I murmured. "Nikki Do you know what that was?"

"No, it's never happened before."

We waited in silence, to see if it would happen again. I stroked Tony's hand with my own; he had long since fallen back into unconsciousness. His was clammy and icy to the touch, and that scared me.

The bang happened again, and this time the door separating us from our captors burst open.

"_Are you telling me that you captured another one?" _someone demanded angrily in Arabic. "_Why?_"

"_She and her partner followed me,_" the second man said. "_I wasn't able to lose them."_

The first man marched forcefully into my cage, ripping me away from Tony and throwing me against the back wall. His eyes were angry as he glared at me.

And then they relaxed, but only a little. He released me and I slid to the floor.

"_She is not American,_" he said.

"_No. Her training and style suggests she is from Mossad."_

"_You've gotten Mossad involved in this?"_

"_No. She is with the Americans."_

The first man pulled me up roughly again. "_I know you can understand me,_" he said. "_Where is the Marsden file?"_

"_I don't know," _I replied, gasping as I tried to pull oxygen back into my lungs. "_I have never heard of it before." _I was slammed back against the wall, but was not questioned again.

"NCIS will either give me file or you pay with your lives," the man spat, speaking in broken English, then he turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

"What was that?" I heard Tony asked in a hoarse whisper. All the commotion had woken him.

I could not answer him. I just lay on the floor and tried to breathe as little as possible. I was pretty sure I had heard one of my ribs crack the last time I was slammed against he wall.

"Ziva?" Tony asked, and I could hear worry etched in his tired voice. "Ziva?"

"Did they hurt you?" Nikki asked me.

"She's hurt?" I could see the shadow that was Tony struggling to get up and I mustered up all the strength I could to speak.

"No, I am fine," I said, trying to sound strong. "Lie back down and do not move. You will just tear your shoulder up more."

Tony did not seem appeased, but I could see him relax back onto the floor. "I wonder what the Marsden file is?" he wondered quietly. "Did Gibbs say anything about it?"

"No," I said. "He did not even seem to recognize the name."

"Did he bring the file with him?"

I thought carefully. "He did have a file case with him on the plane, and he was looking at it. But he never told me or McGee what it was about."

I rolled over as I said this, and there was a sharp pain in the small of my back that had nothing to do with my ribs.

And then I realized what it was.

I pulled my small pocket knife from the waistband of my pants and stared at it incredulously. I could not believe I had forgotten that I had it.

"Nikki, Tony," I hissed.

"What?"

"I have a knife."

There was a silence. "They didn't disarm you?" Nikki asked, confusion in her voice.

"They did, but I guess they missed one."

"How many weapons do you _have_?" she asked.

"Uh…you don't want to know," Tony said jokingly. "Even if she wasn't wearing any clothes she would probably have concealed weapons."

"The only thing keeping me from beating you right now, Tony, is the fact that I cannot reach you," I snapped back at him, more as a force of habit than actual annoyance.

"And for once, I'm glad for that," he said, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Do not make me throw this knife at you."

"Hey!" Nikki cut in. "Will you stop bickering like little children? We need to think of a plan."

"Like what?" I asked. "How can we possibly escape when all we have is a nearly dead cell phone and a three inch pocketknife? Not to mention that one of us is not capable of moving without help."

"Well…we could get them to come back in here, and you could-"

"Kill all of them with my puny knife before they shoot me?" I finished for her, sarcasm leeching through every syllable. "And how do you expect to get them to come back in here? They do not seem to bother with us unless we prick them off."

"It's 'tick' Ziva. _Tick_ them off," Tony corrected automatically.

"Well, Gibbs and them probably have a deal where they won't get the file unless all of us get out alive," Nikki speculated. "We could have Tony pretend to be really sick…"

"That shouldn't be too hard," he said, trying to laugh but not succeeding much.

"…And then they would come in…" I finished for her. I thought about this. "But they will go into Tony's cage. I would not be able to reach everyone through the bars without them noticing and shooting us all."

"Hmmm…" Nikki sat back and leaned against the back wall, thinking some more, I supposed. I scooted closer to the bars between me and Tony and lay down next to them, so Tony and I were side by side with the bars in between us. I slipped my hand through the bars and wrapped my fingers in his. Although he did not say anything, I felt him squeeze my hand lightly to let me know that he appreciated the gesture.

I drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of his breathing.

--

Sometime later, I could hear Nikki calling my name.

"Ziva! Ziva!"

I jerked awake. Something was wrong.

"What?"

"It's Tony!"

Then I noticed that he was shaking badly and his skin was icy cold in my hand.

"Tony!" I said worriedly. "Tony, what is the matter?"

He did not respond.

"Check his arm," Nikki said urgently. "It may be infected and that could be what's affecting him."

I grabbed Tony and pulled him as close to me as I could. I ripped the makeshift bandage away from his shoulder in despair; it came off too easily. I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open, shining the meager light on his shoulder. It was red and swollen around the edges, and the blood had clotted all over his shoulder so it was nearly impossible to see exactly where the wound was. Red streaks ran down his arm, and as I pulled his shirt back, I could see them across his chest, spreading outward from his shoulder. I put a hand on his forehead. He was burning up.

"He has a fever," I told Nikki. "And it looks like his shoulder is infected."

I looked back down at my partner. Sweat ran down his face and his eyes were glazed over; open but not seeing.

"Tony!" I shouted. I pulled him closer to me and forced him to look into my eyes. We looked at each other for a moment and his breathing slowed. I began to relax, but then he started to close his eyes and go limp. "No, Tony!" I said, using my free hand to slap him across the face. "Do not give in! Stay with me!"

_Stay with me._

Nikki began to shout loudly in Arabic for a doctor, and I joined in with her, shouting louder and louder until someone came.

Two men walked in, one crisp and business-like, the other nonchalantly holding a gun.

"_Help, please, his shoulder is infected," _I pleaded in Arabic. "_Do not let him die."_

"_And if we do?" _the man with the gun asked, a note of mocking cheerfulness. Rage boiled up inside of me.

"_You will not get the file you want if one of us dies,"_ I spat, my contempt for him clearly evident in my voice.

The doctor let himself into Tony's cage and knelt down beside him. I watched as he carefully cleaned the wound, and then, with careful precision, he cut away the dead skin around the bullet hole, ignoring Tony's groans of pain.

"_You're hurting him,_" I cried.

"_Trust me, miss, he is in so much pain already that he can barely feel it."_

That did nothing to make me feel better.

I watched him work in silence, and every time Tony made a sound I squeezed his hand harder. Anxiety built up in me so much that I could barely contain it. I was angry, mad and frustrated. I hated seeing Tony like this; I hated having to trust our captors with his life. I felt helpless…and it was disarming. I did not like the feeling that there were circumstances here that I could not control, that I could not overcome.

A single tear ran down my face and splashed onto the dirt floor of my prison.

I wondered where Gibbs was.

Would he be able to find us?

Would he be able to get us out?

I wiped away another tear, and just then several things clicked into place at once. I heard a metallic clatter as the doctor dropped his silver scalpel; I made eye contact with Nikki in the split second before the sharp instrument skidded to a stop right in front of her. She gave a barely imperceptible nod, knowing exactly what she needed to do.

As her hand flashed through the bars and grabbed the scalpel, I pulled out my pocket knife and flipped it open, throwing it deftly at the man with the gun in one swift motion. It caught him in the base of the throat, slicing his windpipe so all he could do was portray his shock with his eyes, which were open and staring at me, reflecting the light from the tiny flashlight.

Before the doctor could react to any of these events, Nikki had grabbed his scalpel and stabbed him in the neck.

I guessed it was a sign that Tony was rubbing off on me, but the first thing that came to my mind was a movie reference.

"That was very _Sweeney Todd_-ish of you," I remarked as the man keeled over slowly.

Nikki looked at the man she had killed in shock. "Oh my God…" she whispered to herself.

"Prison has turned you into a cruel woman, Agent Jardine," I said with a completely straight face.

Despite the circumstances, we both cracked a quick smile.

"How are we going to get out of these cages?" she asked me quietly.

"Check the doctor," I said.

While she searched the doctor for keys, I turned to Tony. He was still in really bad shape, but I hoped he would get better. His wound had gotten cleaned and everything, so maybe that would keep the infection from spreading or getting worse.

"Found them," Nikki announced flatly, jingling a set of keys.

"Great. Now get us out of here."

I needed Nikki's help to stand up, much to my dismay.

"I think they might have broken your ribs when they threw you against the wall," she said, prodding my side gently and watching me wince. "Are you sure you're alright to help carry Tony? I can handle him by myself."

"No, let me help, please," I said. "I'm fine."

Together we walked into Tony's cage. I bent down and carefully, and with Nikki's help, lifted Tony up, wrapping my arm around his waist and supporting him with my good side. He groaned and his head rolled limply onto my shoulder.

"Come on Tony, we are getting out," I said.

Nikki rummaged around in the doctor's bag and pulled out a roll of white gauze. She wrapped it around Tony's shoulder and tied it off. Immediately, I could see a dark stain soaking through.

"How are we going to get next door without them shooting us?" Nikki asked.

I thought for a moment. My eyes landed on the man I had killed with my knife, and an idea popped into my mind.

"Here, hold Tony," I said, and Nikki and I gingerly switched places. As soon as I was sure she had a good hold on him, I let go and knelt down next to the man with the gun. I pulled my knife out of his throat and wiped it on his dirty pants, then closed it up and put it in the pocket of mine. Then I pulled off the man's shirt and vest and put them over my ripped tank top. Then I grabbed his hat, a poor mockery of the hats worn by the Iraqi soldiers, and pushed by dirty hair up in it, leaving some to stick down in an imitation of his lack of a recent haircut. Then I grabbed his gun, an old model of the AK-47's, and made sure it was loaded.

I turned to Nikki with a grim expression. "Do not come in until I give the okay, understood?"

She nodded, and pulled Tony back into the shadows so that they would not be seen when the door was opened.

I took a deep breath and used the ring of keys to unlock the door separating us from freedom.

I kept my head down as I entered, so I would remain undiscovered as long as possible. I could see four pairs of feet at the small table to my left, and heard the voice of someone off in the far right corner and the click of fingers typing on a computer keyboard.

"_Ah, Sayid, is the man dead yet?" _someone asked as I shut the door behind me.

My head snapped up with the gun, revealing that I was not, in fact, Sayid. With a deep breath that carried away my fears and second thoughts, I pulled the trigger.

In four seconds, it was over, and I was left standing in the middle of a room, the dead bodies of five Iraqis on the floor around me.

One of them was still holding his poker cards.

* * *

**Yep. That was Ziva being a super lethal assassin ninja. **

**I attribute the dark nature of this chapter to the fact that I was watching "A Nightmare on Elm Street" while I was writing it. "_Tinaaaaaaaa...Tiiiiiiiinnnnaaaaaaa..." _**

**FYI: It's the first appearance of Freddy Kreuger. I think. You know, the guy with the knives on his fingers and in all the slasher horror films nowadays.**

**And it's the first movie Johnny Depp was ever in. **

**Which is the reason why i watched it. :)**


	7. Sacrifice

**Yeah, I know I haven't updated in a while. I'm a horrible person and yadda yadda. I had a hard time getting this to flow well. I still don't think it works, but it sorta makes sense, so I'm giving it to you anyway. You're all smart people...I'm sure you can figure it out. **

**This story so far is really seemingly dark to me compared to all the other stuff I've done. (And if you've read it, then you know I'm into that sweet romantic happiness fluff.)**

**Yes...I admit it. Underneath this sarcastic and redheaded figure lives the heart of a hopeless romantic. **

**But that doesn't mean I'm not completely cruel and manipulative towards my characters first. muwahahahahaha...**

* * *

CHAPTER 7

**ZIVA**

It was dark; the last candle had long since blown out. Nikki and I sat in the far corner, behind the over-turned table, and just out of sight of the door. I had tried for several hours to crack the giant combination lock, but I could not do it. After a while I had begun to hit the door with anything I could reach, shouting obscenities in every language I knew.

"That's not going to help, Ziva," Nikki had said, trying to sound complacent. She was sitting with Tony's head in her lap, trying to carefully unwrap the bandage from around his shoulder.

"Here, Let me," I said softly, coming over to her and flipping open my phone and sharing what little light I could give. She took the phone from my hand; I pulled out my pocketknife and began to methodically cut away the dirty cloth. The blood from Tony's wound had soaked through and clotted around it, making it extremely difficult to pull off.

"Is there any water around?" I asked Nikki.

She shook her head. "I looked around while you were cursing the door. There's nothing here."

I sighed. "I'm going to have to rip it then," I said.

"Do you have something to bandage it back up again with?" she asked. "If we rip this one off it's going to open the wound back up again. Plus...it's going to hurt like hell."

"It is a good thing he is asleep then, yes?"

I looked around for something that would work as a replacement bandage, but saw nothing that was clean enough. That is, until I saw my own shirt.

Nikki saw it too. "You could use the sleeves," she said. "And then the bottom hem to wrap around it."

Without any hesitation, I pulled my t-shirt over my head. Nikki, with a jerk of her arm, ripped the dirty cloth off. Tony groaned as it pulled at his wound and opened it up again. His eyes snapped open and met mine instantly. I held them solidly and without fear, like Gibbs would have done, and willed him with all the strength that I had for him to make it through this. I could definitely see that he would not last very long if we did not find a way out of here soon. The fact that I was standing over him without a shirt on did not even cross my mind.

"Ziva!" Nikki said, and I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. I cut off the sleeves of my shirt, which I used as padding, and a good six inch wide strip off the hem, which I wrapped around his shoulder and tied off as tightly as I could.

Within minutes, Tony had drifted off again. Nikki and I sat there in silence. I pulled my shirt back over my head, and shut my phone, putting it in my pocket. I sat in the darkness, listening to Tony's ragged breathing until I drifted off to sleep.

...

After what felt like only a couple of minutes, however, I was awake again. My eyes opened to total darkness, and I was at first disoriented. But as I lifted my head off of Nikki's shoulder, I remembered where I was.

In a room full of dead people.

There was a crackling noise that broke the silence like a whip. I could hear voices echoing around the pitch black room, and I sat bolt upright, almost knocking Tony's head out of my lap. That must have been what had woken me up.

"Nikki!" I hissed, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. "Wake up!"

"What?" she asked. "What's happening?"

"Shh…Listen," I said, holding my hand up as a gesture for silence.

The crackling and voices came again.

"It sounds like a walkie-talkie," Nikki said.

I got up quickly and went over to the dead Iraqis. After quickly setting Tony on the floor, Nikki joined me.

"Help me figure out which one it is," I said. "Because I think it is just one."

The crackling noise sounded of again, and I began rifling through the clothes of the man in the middle until my hand closed around a small black box. I pulled it out of the man's vest and stared at it.

It was old and felt really cheap; like the ones used by kids. It was made of black plastic and the brand name had been scraped off…all that was left were a couple of lonely letters in chipped white paint.

"Those don't look like military-issue talkies," Nikki said.

"I do not think we are dealing with any type of military anymore," I said as the realization hit me. "I think it is someone else. An independent."

"It must be an independent with a lot of money."

"Or he could just be a powerful speaker," I pointed out. "It does not take much to get radicals fired up and suicidal…just a few choice phrases about pride and honor and faith in your country."

The walkie-talkie crackled again, and this time the voice came through quite clearly in Arabic.

"_Sayid__. Come in Sayid. The boss wants to speak with you." _

Shit. Not good.

"What do we do?" Nikki asked.

"Well, they are going to know something is up inevitably," I said. "When they do not get an answer from this man they will come down here looking for him after a while. And if one of us answers, they will be tipped off immediately and come rushing down here in who knows how many numbers. They will probably kill us."

Nikki thought for a moment. "So our options are dying now…or dying later." She paused. "I choose later."

"Wrong," I said.

"What?"

"We can either die on their terms…or ours," I continued. "If we do not answer the call, they will come down who knows when. Maybe when we are sleeping…I do not know. But if we _do_ answer them, then they will come rushing down here. We will know they are coming and will be ready for them."

Nikki thought about it for a moment. I could see that she understood my logic on this.

"But what about Tony?" she asked. "What are we going to do about him? If we get caught in a firefight…he's not able to defend himself. What if he gets shot again?"

"We will hide him," I decided. I stood up and pointed to the overturned table. "We can use that."

The talkie crackled again.

"You should answer that," Nikki said softly.

With trembling fingers, I brought the walkie-talkie up to my lips and pressed the red button on the side. What would I say? What _should_ I say?

"_I'm afraid Sayid is otherwise occupied," _I started to say, filling my voice with the daring and bravado that I knew I did not have. "_Can I take a message?" _

I let go of the button and waited tensely for the response.

"_Who is this? Where is Sayid?" _The voice demanded almost immediately, sounding shrill and angry through the crackling speakers..

"_He is dead," _I replied smoothly, keeping all emotion out of my voice now. "_And so are the others."_

There was silence at the other end when I released the button; I guessed they must be discussing things with each other. I turned to Nikki.

"Judging from the bad quality of these," I said, holding up the plastic talkie in my hand, "They should not be too far away. These things do not have a great range."

She nodded, and began situating the furniture around Tony's body and grabbing all the weapons from the dead men.

The talkie came on again, and this time I could hear angry shouting in the background. "_I am assuming that this is the American Israeli from NCIS that I am speaking to, yes?"_

"_Yes," _I replied, not able to think of anything else to say. Then I threw the talkie across the room and smashed it.

"Don't you think that was a little unnecessary?" Nikki asked, pointing to the bits of wire and circuitry on the floor.

"I did not want to have to spend the next several minutes listening to them rant and shout death threats at me," I replied coolly.

Several minutes later, we had constructed a barrier out of the furniture in the room. It was set up in the farthest possible corner from the door, and we had every weapon we could find back behind it with us.

Tony groaned, and the small noise cut through the silence like a knife. I knelt down next to him, my hands gently caressing his face.

"Tony, can you hear me?" I asked him softly.

"Yes," he whispered. His left hand came up and brushed lightly across my cheek. I leaned into it unconsciously, as if it were the most natural thing for me to do. I closed my eyes and a tiny trickle of water ran down my cheek.

"You're crying," he murmured as he brushed it from my face. "Why?"

"I'm worried about you," I said brokenly.

"I'll be okay."

There was a huge commotion on the other side of the door.

"They're here," Nikki announced, grabbing one of the AK-47's off the floor and positioning herself behind the barricade like a sniper.

The lock clicked on the giant metal door, and it swung open. Ten men burst through, shouting and waving their guns.

"Now," I hissed to Nikki, and we both opened fire on them.

Bullets slammed into our wooden barricade and flew past within frightening proximity of my head and buried themselves in the wall behind me. I could tell Tony was trying to get up, but I shoved him back down onto the floor with my free hand.

"Now is not the time, Tony," I said. "Stay down."

"They're closing the door!" Nikki shouted to me over the noise of the shootout.

I looked up and heard the door slam.

"Shit," I said. With two bullets I took out two of the remaining three men, and with a burst of sheer stupidity, I ran around the barricade and rushed him. There was a shot, but I was not aware of myself enough to register if the bullet had hit me or not. I tackled him to the floor and pulled the gun from him. Nikki came up behind me, and my heart sank.

She was bleeding; the bullet had hit her arm.

"I'm fine," she mouthed to me, and I turned back to the man on the floor.

"_Who are you?" _I demanded, grabbing his shoulders and slamming him into the floor for emphasis.

He did not answer.

"_Who are you working for?" _I tried, hoping that would bring out an answer. He was still silent. I grabbed the handgun he was carrying and pressed it to the side of his head. "_Answer me!" _I shouted at him, my rage and frustration boiling out of me. I was sick of being trapped down here, I was worried about Tony and Nikki, and now, with recent events taken into account, escape seemed almost feasible.

I was on my last nerve, I guess you would say.

Calm was an unattainable goal, and the only thing that kept me from shooting the man was the fact that we needed him to open the door.

"_Are there any more of you?"_ I asked.

"_Yes,_" he replied after a moment. "_And they will kill you."_

"_I look forward to it," _I snarled. Then I hit the man hard over the head with the barrel of his gun and knocked him unconscious.

"Don't we need him to open the door?" Nikki asked, blood seeping through her hands as she tried to put pressure on her wound.

"We are using him now," I said, ripping a chunk of fabric off the guy's shirt and wrapping it around her arm.

"How?"

"When these men do not come back, someone will come looking for them. He said there are others. So when they come and open the door, this time we will be ready for them." I finished tying the makeshift bandage around her arm and walked over to our shattered barricade. "This is not going to help us anymore," I said, and promptly ripped one of the metal legs off the table.

Tony looked up. "What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said calmly. "Go back to sleep, Tony."

"What's that for?" Nikki asked me.

I did not have a chance to answer. Voices called to the fallen men from the other side of the door. I knelt down and pulled our hostage up, holding his arms behind him.

Nikki and I pressed ourselves up against the wall right by the door. I held the man in front of us so that he would be the first thing seen. The door clicked several times as they dialed the combination to open it.

"Eight digits…" I murmured. "No wonder I could not crack it."

"I've never heard of an eight digit combination lock like that," Nikki whispered.

Just then, the door creaked open, and before anything else could happen, I shoved the metal table leg through the crack.

"Get Tony!" I said to Nikki. "And get ready to run!"

I turned to the men behind the door and pressed a gun to the head of my hostage. "_Let us out or I shoot him!" _I shouted in Arabic.

"_So?" _I was challenged. "_He is already prepared to die for the cause."_

Damn_. _

I dropped the man I was holding up and held up the gun, pointing it at the closest man through the two inch opening. "_Let us out."_

"_No."_

"I have a plan," Nikki whispered in my ear as she came up to me, supporting Tony with her good arm. "You take Tony. We'll shove the door open and I'll shoot them. As soon as it's clear, you get Tony out of here."

I could see the definite holes in the plan…and also the resolve firmly positioned behind her eyes. "No…Nikki…" I said. "I cannot let you do that! You will die! You are going to make it out of here with us…you-" I broke off. Someone was trying to pull the table leg out of the gap. I dropped the gun in order to gain a better hold, and instantly four guns were pointing at me from the other side.

"_Drop the stick_," the first one said. "_And we won't shoot you."_

There were two shots, sounding loud in my ears. I waited for the impact, but nothing hit me. I looked to my left, and I saw Nikki holding the gun I had dropped in front of her, sticking it out through the gap. The two soldiers in front fell to the ground.

In the moment of shock that passed, and it cannot have been more than a couple of seconds, several things happened. Nikki shoved me out of the way while simultaneously pushing Tony into my arms. With the hand not holding the gun, she grabbed the table leg from me and pried the door open with a force fueled by anger and desperation. Without breaking the motion, she brought the gun up in her other hand and shot two more soldiers. I was pushed behind the thick metal door, and I listened as shots began to fire.

It was over as quickly as it had begun.

Then there was silence.

In slow motion, I came around the edge of the door, holding Tony. I saw Nikki standing in the middle of the dead soldiers, and then I saw her begin to fall.

"Nikki!"

I did not catch her in time to stop her from hitting the floor.

"Nikki!"

She was covered in blood. There were four bullets that were lodged in her upper chest area, and one that looked like it had grazed the side of her head.

"You have to go now, Ziva," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You have to get Tony out of here…before he dies too."

"I am not just going to leave you here," I said firmly. "I am going to get you out too. You will make it."

"You can't carry both me and Tony, and you know it," Nikki said. Then she started coughing. Blood came to her lips and ran in a little trickle from the corner of her mouth down the side of her face. "It was a pleasure working with you, Ziva," she whispered.

I took her hands in mine. "Same here," I replied. "You are one of the bravest people I have ever met," I said sincerely. "And I mean it. Not even people in Mossad would have done what you have for me and Tony." She smiled.

Her body shuddered violently, and then she sighed.

Then her eyes closed as her hands went limp as I held them in the still silence.

* * *

**Yep. I did it. I killed off one of the characters. **

**I was planning on doing this from the beginning anyway...hopefully it came as somewhat of a surprise.**

**Hang in there for the next chapter, dudes. I'm not done with this yet... :)**


	8. Rescue

**So yeah...I took forever in updating this. I am totally sorry about that. My excuse? I had to have surgery on my right arm. So yeah. Typing with just my left hand doesn't go very fast.**

**But here is the next chapter. It's a little short, but it was a good place to stop. I'll be able to type with both hands again in a couple of days, so keep your eyes out for an update this weekend!**

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT

**ZIVA**

Tony's ragged breathing was the only thing that broke the intense silence of this underground tomb, and it brought me back to sharp reality. I really did not want to leave Nikki's body behind in this place, but I had no choice. I could not carry both of them.

But I had to do something about her…I could not just leave her here.

"Is that Nikki?" I heard Tony whisper in my ear as I held him up, thinking of a plan. His voice startled me; it was much too soft and much too slow.

"Yes," I said after a really long moment. "She saved us."

"Gibbs is gonna kill me," I heard him mutter before he closed his eyes again. I wrapped my right arm around his chest, just under his arms. I pulled his left arm around so that it rested on my shoulder, and then began to walk down the hallway, away from the scene of death that was surrounding us. Most of the time Tony walked slowly and supported his own weight, but every so often I would feel the pull of his feet dragging, and I would have to stop so Tony could rest. I had no idea where I was going. I struggled to pull my phone out of my pocket and flipped it open. Still no signal; also the battery was wearing down. I shut it and put the phone back in my pocket.

After about five minutes of slowly walking down the hallway, I came to a fork.

"_Which way?"_ I thought to myself. I looked down each option. They both looked the same: dark and endless.

So I took a leaf out of Gibbs' book and followed my gut, taking the left one. I calmly rationalized to myself that if worst came to worst, I could always just backtrack. I walked slowly down the metal passageway, keeping as close to the walls as I could. I could tell that there were several different hallways that branched out from the one I was on, but I did not take any of them. They all seemed darker and colder, and I did not want to take any unnecessary risks, especially now that escaping seemed like a feasible option.

"Stay with me, Tony," I murmured, running my hands lightly through his hair as I stopped again at another intersection. "We will get out of here…"

Suddenly, a noise echoed down the metal hallway, breaking the still silence. On instinct, I got a better hold on Tony and pulled him into the darkness of one of the branching hallways. He moaned, the sudden motion must have caused a lot of pain in his shoulder, and I quickly clapped my hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. I pressed myself as close to the cold wall as I could, trying to simultaneously hold him up and shield him from sight of the main hallway.

The voices got louder, and I scooted farther back into the darkness. Then, I began to see flashlight beams glancing off the walls, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before Tony and I were discovered. I continued walking back, praying as hard as I could that there would be another turn or a bend in the passage or something, _anything_ that would shield us from the light. Deep in my heart I knew that if Tony and I were caught, we would not live long enough to escape again.

The light from the flashlights was getting brighter and the voices were getting louder. Due to the echoing of the metal surrounding us, though, I could not understand what they were saying. I just continued as swiftly as I dared on my backward trek, hoping against hope that they would not look this way.

But, all of a sudden, the wall I was leaning against disappeared. I steadied myself quickly, fully aware of the noise it would make if I fell, then I realized that it was the safety I had been praying for. I quickly pulled Tony and myself down this new passageway, just in time to see the beams of many flashlights illuminate the spot we were just in.

I decided to take a chance and I moved as quickly as I could, pulling Tony, and not giving my lungs any chance to let out the breath I was unconsciously holding. There was another fork, and I turned left again. Maybe it would lead back to the main passageway and I could double back and sneak around them.

But it did not. After twenty steps, the hallway diverged again, and neither choice would take me in the direction that I wanted.

_Left or right?_

I began to hear the voices behind us again. There was no time to waste; I no longer had the luxury of choices. I took a deep breath and continued with Tony down the right one at a painfully slow pace.

"It's a good thing I love you, Tony," I murmured. "Or else I would have dropped you already."

It was a couple of seconds before I realized what I had just said. I stopped quickly, and turned to look at Tony.

His eyes were closed, thankfully. He did not hear me.

I continued on, but then the hallway turned sharply, and I stopped in shock. I was faced with a dead end.

There was no door, no ladder…nothing at all. The hallway just _ended_…for no apparent reason.

_Strange. _

So I backtracked and headed cautiously back the way I came and took a different route. A couple of turns later, I ran into another dead end.

And then another.

Then the realization hit me like I had just jumped into a pool of freezing water.

_This place was a fucking maze. _

I leaned up against the cold metal wall and slid down slowly, trying to think of what to do. I was exhausted from supporting Tony all this way, from running and dodging these strange independent extremists, and from the lack of food. As my stomach growled loudly in protest of its emptiness, I realized that I had not eaten since I had gotten off the plane.

I did not even know how long ago that was. Two days? Three? It seemed like forever.

I looked down at Tony, but I could not see him in the darkness. All I could hear was his ragged breathing, and I knew that he would not make it much longer.

I had to get out of this maze.

Slowly, I pulled myself and Tony back up and headed off again.

I felt completely lost.

So I just picked a direction and started walking. In the darkness I had nothing to reference, nothing to mark my trail with, and nothing to leave behind that would signify that I had already gone down this way. Everything looked the same…I just had to remember.

Walking on was almost more than I could bear. Putting one foot in front of the other was all I could think about.

Then, out of the darkness, I began to see light.

The flashlights of our captors.

I looked around for a place to hide. I ducked into a nearby hallway, and to my dismay I found that it was another dead end. We were trapped; there was no way of slipping by them now.

I heard their voices echoing towards me, and I set Tony gently on the ground.

"Tony," I murmured, running my fingertips down the side of his face. "Tony, wake up."

His eyes opened slowly. "Ziva?" He said my name cautiously, as if he was unsure who he was talking to.

"Yes," I replied. "I need you to understand something," I whispered. "It's important." I did not wait to see if he would respond. "We are trapped. I have tried to get us out, but I cannot run anymore." I tear trickled down my cheek, and I wiped it away. "I am sorry, Tony. I have failed you."

"No…" he whispered, his eyes showing that he could hear and understand the pain in my voice. I felt his hands brush the side of my arms, looking for mine, intending on comforting me, trying to assure me that everything was okay. I entwined my fingers with his and held them close. "No…"

I could tell that he wanted to say something more, but I stopped him. "Listen, Tony, there is something I have been meaning to say…" I paused, not knowing how to start this. "We have been partners for a long time, yes? And I just wanted to say that…that I know we are friends, and that if anything happened to you I do not know what I would do." I paused again, trying to corral my scattering thoughts. Confessing this was more nerve-wracking than any torture room I had ever been in. "When we got the call from Nikki saying that you had been shot, I almost collapsed. I had the irrational thought that I should die too, just so I did not have to live without you. I cannot imagine a day at work where I look up from my desk and you are not there, smiling back at me…" I stopped as Tony began to cough; huge, racking coughs that shook his whole body. When he settled down, I could see that his lips had been stained red from the blood he had coughed up. The voices and echoed of our captors were getting louder. I did not have much time. "Alright…I will just come right out and say it," I said, more for my benefit than Tony's. "I think I am in love with you, Tony," I whispered. "I love you, and I have tried not to...I know that I should not…but I cannot help it, and it is not likely ever to stop."

_There…I said it. Now you can die in peace, Ziva._

Beams from the flashlights began to reflect off the wall next to me, so I stood up and positioned myself in front of Tony. I had an AK-47 that I had lifted off one of the soldiers Nikki had killed slung across my arm, so I pulled it around and set if firmly against my shoulder. Pressing myself against the wall, I readied my index finger on the trigger. I knew this was my last fight…no matter how many there were, I would not last. My senses were dulled my exhaustion, hunger and blood loss; there was no way that I could hold my own for very long.

I caught them by surprise, and that was my only advantage. I managed to get at least three of them before they began shooting back. One grazed by my arm and another narrowly missed my left temple. I began shouting at them, screaming at them in Arabic, releasing all of my frustration and anger as I continued firing.

It must have been my mind playing tricks on me, but after a couple of seconds it seemed like there were more gunshots than guns. I heard more shouting joining in, and then a bullet slammed into my thigh. I fell to the floor hard, cracking my head on the metal as I stumbled back and toppled over Tony's body. A bright light flashed across my eyes and then darkness gathered at the edge of my vision.

I heard my name, and it was as if it was being shouted from a great distance away.

"Ziva!"

_Gibbs?_ I thought sluggishly. _He is here?_

I tried to make a motion, tried to do something to let him know that I heard him, but I could not move. The frightened faces of McGee and Gibbs came into my limited eyesight and through my ragged and irregular breathing I let out a sigh of relief.

Then I let the darkness take me.

* * *

**Ah, yes...rescue at last. Sorry if Ziva's confession seemed a little OOC, but it was really hard to think of how she might say it, since she has never really said anything like that. But anyway...it's looking like Tony didn't even hear her, so what happens now?**


	9. Recovery

Congratulations to **Belker** on being the 100th reviewer.

**So I'm totally sorry about not having this up in a timely fashion. I know I say that all the time, but it's more true this time because I DID say i would have it up two weekends ago but...I didn't. Sorry.**

**And I have a bunch of excuses:**

**1) I went to see The Dark Knight yesterday at midnight with the rest of my Batman-obsessive friends AND IT WAS AWESOME. I LOVED IT. I was so nerdy about it that I even wore my Batman cape that i got when I was at Six Flags over Spring Break. :)**

**2) College Orientation. And guess what? I totally met a really hot guy there...and yes. It was a distraction.**

**3) Um...I did bad things and my computer got taken away for two weeks. Which sucked.**

**4)I was on Facebook and it sucked out my soul and ability to do anything productive.**

**So, as a present for my horrible lack of any self control whatsoever, hereby present to you an extra long chapter. YAY!**

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

**ZIVA**

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

I could hear the annoying sound through the thick darkness. I wanted to lift up my hands and brush the sound away, but I could not lift them. They were too heavy. So I just sighed and relaxed back into the comfortable darkness.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!_

The noise grew longer and prolonged, and suddenly there were voices, shouting and clamoring. Why were they shouting? Couldn't they see I was trying to sleep? I tried to sink further into the blackness. I felt something heavy on my chest, and then a sharp force rocketed through me, propelling me up through the black water. The force lifted, and then was replaced, sending another jolt through me. I was close to the surface, I could tell. The water felt lighter, and the blackness was not so intense. Another jolt, and I was pushed through. I felt myself break the surface, and suddenly I could breathe.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

The noise died, and I was left in peace. I once again settled into darkness, but it was not as complete and absolute as it was before. This was a familiar darkness, the darkness of sleep.

I awoke sometime later and I opened my eyes slowly. At first, I was met with the pale beige color of the ceiling. Gradually, I turned my eyes to the left, and I saw several monitors, and some even had tubes that I saw snaking around to connect into the IV on my left arm.

I was in a hospital.

I was not dead.

Finally looking over to my right, I saw McGee, asleep in one of the chairs. I opened my mouth to speak, but no sounds came out; only a raspy whisper. My throat burned…I wanted water. I could see a glass on the table next to my bed, just within arm's reach. Slowly, I reached out for it, but the IV in my hand prevented me, the tube was not long enough. My fingers just grazed the side of the glass, but that was enough to knock it over with a loud clatter and wake up McGee.

"Ziva!" he exclaimed. "You're awake!"

"McGee," I whispered. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Navy hospital in Baghdad," he replied, scooting closer to me on the rolly-chair. Then he checked his watch. "And it is about two thirty in the morning."

"How-"

"How long were you out? A couple of days," he replied. "We got really worried about seven hours ago when you flatlined. But the doctors here were able to bring you back."

"Flatlined?"

He pointed to the beeping monitor on my left. "You're heart stopped," he explained, silently handing me his half empty bottle of water to replace my spilled cup.

I grew wide-eyed at that, but before I could ask any more questions, I was interrupted.

"Ms. David!" a heavily accented voice exclaimed from the doorway. I looked over to see a nurse with a clipboard hurry into the room. "I am glad to see you awake. Your friends will be glad to know you are coming around."

"They are here?" I asked McGee.

"No…but Abby and Ducky call constantly. Even the Director is very concerned about you and Tony." Then he stood up. "I'll go tell Gibbs you've come around," he said. "He's with Tony now."

"Tony!" I said, remembering my partner. "Where is he? Is he alright? I want to see him!"

I did not like the look that crossed McGee's face when I mentioned Tony's name.

"What?" I asked. "What is wrong with him? He is not…" I could not even bring myself to utter the word.

"No…he's not dead," McGee said, and I let out a sigh of relief. "But he's in bad shape." Then he left.

About a minute later, the doctor came in. "I am glad to see you are up, Ms. David," he said cheerfully, his British accent seeming out of place amidst all of the Middle Eastern ones I could hear, and reminding me of a younger version of Ducky. "How are you feeling?"

I thought for a moment. "Like I have been shot," I replied sarcastically. Now that I was up and aware of things, I could feel the pain in my body where it had been penetrated by the bullets.

"Well, that's to be expected," he said, smiling slightly. "Follow the light with your eyes please, dear." He then proceeded to check me over, to make sure I was not suffering from any damage besides the gunshots. Behind him, I could see McGee reentering, followed closely by a very tired looking Gibbs. The doctor then checked all my bandages. There was one on my shoulder, one on my leg; also I could feel one on my abdomen, and another above my left eyebrow, close to the hairline.

"You had a nasty cut on your forehead, but we fixed that with stitches," he said. "Also, the gunshot injury to your arm was very superficial; you'll be able to use that arm again in no time. The shot in your leg, however, and the one in your side are going to take a while to heal." I sighed.

"I understand you work at NCIS, correct?" he asked. I nodded. "Desk work," he replied firmly, looking not only at me but at Gibbs and McGee as well. "At least three months. Maybe even six."

"Six months!"

"I'm sorry, Ms. David," he said, sounding like he truly meant it. "But the one in your side nearly killed you. You really should take it easy for a while." And with that, he left. The nurse pressed a button on the side of my bed to raise it up into a comfortable sitting position.

Neither McGee nor Gibbs spoke, so I decided to break the silence. "How did you guys find us?" I asked quietly. "I remember seeing you before I blacked out."

"I saw where the guy dragged you off to, that day we got here," McGee said. "So Gibbs and I went back to the base and grabbed all the soldiers we could find. We had trouble with getting them to go with us to come and find you, because of all the legal stuff about bringing U.S. soldiers into the non-international part of Iraq."

"But you did anyway," I said.

"Yeah. There was a whole bunch of shouting involved."

I managed to crack a smile.

"So we found where you were taken."

"The maze," I whispered. I saw Gibbs' face darken.

"Yes…" McGee said. "It was hard, trying to find you, because there was no cell phone signal to track you with underground. After a while, we found this room…"

"Did you find Nikki?" I asked sadly.

McGee nodded. "Yes."

"She sacrificed herself to get me and Tony out," I said, needing to explain. "Without her, we would be dead now."

"The Director ordered that she get a hero's funeral," McGee said. "Just like Kate. And she also got a medal, too, for outstanding bravery in the field."

I took a deep breath, an action that I had long used to keep tears at bay.

"It wasn't long after that when we heard gunshots and shouting, which lead us right to you," he said, continuing.

I was going to ask him about Tony again, but just then, his phone rang. "It's Abby," he said. "Hello?" There was a couple of seconds of intense chatter from Abby's end, and McGee put his hand over the mouthpiece and looked at me concernedly. I shook my head, knowing what he was about to ask. As much as I loved Abby, I did not feel up to telling the story again just yet. McGee nodded understandingly.

"Uh, no, not yet Abby," I heard him say. "Ziva's still asleep…Yes, I promise…you'll be the first to know when she wakes up…"

There was more muffled sound coming from the speaker. "I'm just going to go outside until she's done talking," he said quietly, then silently left the room.

It was awhile before Gibbs said anything; we just sat there in silence. "Thank you…" I said awkwardly, looking down at my blanketed feet, not knowing what to say.

He walked over to the edge of the bed. "I'm glad you're okay, Ziva," he said, his voice carrying with it the extreme exhaustion he must be feeling.

"I want to see Tony," I said quietly.

"I know you do," he responded. Then, he kissed me softly on the top of my head and headed for the door. "When you can, I'll take you there myself."

…

The next day or so were completely terrible for me. I was not used to needing help, and in my current state I could not even sit up without needing someone.

"Just take it easy," McGee kept saying. "It's their job to help you."

"But I do not _want_ help," I said frustratingly. "I can stand up on my own."

To prove it, I swung my legs around to the side of the bed and stood up. I stared McGee down for a couple of seconds, reveling in my victory, but then the world started to sway. I tumbled forward, and McGee caught me in his arms again with a sigh.

"You see?" he said. "I thought you had learned after the last four times I've had to catch you that you aren't ready."

I glared at him and let the younger agent help me back onto the bed.

"Fine," I snapped, sitting back and folding my arms across my chest like a six-year-old girl.

"Is there anything you want me to get you?" he asked. "Since you aren't on that anesthetic anymore you can actually eat real food."

I brightened up a bit at that. I was going to reply with the words c_hocolate ice cream_, but I was interrupted by McGee's cell phone.

"I have good news," he said when he'd hung up. "That was Gibbs. Tony's been taken out of ICU and they said he should be waking up soon. He's stable, and should make a full recovery."

I could not keep the smile from flooding my face. "Can I see him?" I asked.

"Gibbs is coming now with a wheelchair."

My face darkened. "A wheelchair? I do not need a wheelchair."

"And yet I just had to keep you from falling on your face as you tried to stand up ten seconds ago."

"Let me try again," I said.

McGee rolled his eyes and stood close by, ready to catch me again. I reached out with my toes and touched the cool linoleum floor, trusting my feet with my weight slowly. I straightened up, using all my concentration to keep my legs from buckling under me, then reached out and grabbed McGee's arm for support to balance out the pain in my injured leg.

But I managed it. I was standing.

"See, McGee," I said defiantly. "I can do it."

"Great. Now you can walk to the wheelchair," came Gibbs' voice from the doorway. In front of him was a worn-out wheelchair that had rips in the covering and visible grease in the wheels.

I looked at him. "You have got to be joking," I said. "I can stand. Which means I can walk."

"If you push yourself too fast you'll just end up having to be stuck with deskwork longer," Gibbs replied. "Hop on." He patted the seat patronizingly, flashing me a smile, knowing full well how it would irritate me.

It was hopeless, and I knew it. So as I grumbled angrily to let everyone know my intense displeasure, McGee helped me into the wheelchair.

Gibbs was surprisingly careful as he pushed me through the crowded hospital hallways and to the elevator, but I hardly noticed the trip. My brain was churning a mile a minute. I was worried about Tony, I wanted to see him, and then I also worried about what he would remember when he woke up. Would he remember what I said to him in the metal maze that day? What would he think? How would he respond? I had noticed over the years I had spent as his partner that Tony was not one to settle down easily. He was a self-proclaimed 'ladies man'. I knew that.

But I also thought-_hoped-_that his experience with Jeanne had changed him, helped him grow up a little bit.

The elevator dinged when it reached the fourth floor and the doors slid back. It was less busy up here.

"Room 409," Gibbs said, and McGee led the way. When we got to 408, I told Gibbs to stop.

"I do not want to go in there in a wheelchair," I said. Gibbs looked at me. "Please," I said. "Í do not want him to see me like this. I can walk."

He thought for a moment, and I saw something flicker behind his eyes. "Alright," he said finally, and helped me out of the chair. He wrapped one arm around my waist and another grabbed my hand, supporting me well. McGee pushed the wheelchair to the side and all three of us walked through the door.

Tony looked bad. There was a bandage wrapped around his shoulder and evidence of stitches on his forehead. He was too thin and pale as well. If Gibbs had not have been holding onto me so tightly, I think my knees would have given out. I took a deep breath, and tried to stay strong. Gibbs guided me to a chair by the bed, and set me down in it.

I resisted the urge to reach out and grab his hand.

It was several minutes before Tony began to stir.

"Tony…" I whispered, so softly that I could barely hear it myself.

He opened his eyes.

"Hey guys."

Without wasting any time, Gibbs slapped him lightly upside the head.

"What was that for?" he asked, the familiar expression of mock hurt and injury on his face.

"For making Ziva save your ass."

Tony looked at me, but did not say anything. I met his gaze, trying to discern what he was thinking. Once again I was seized by the fear that he had heard my confession in the maze. But after a couple of seconds he just said "Thank you."

Then he turned back to face the others. "Why are you all standing around me looking like I'm on my deathbed?" he asked, jokingly, the ghost of his old smile playing on his lips.

"See, Ziva, I told you he was going to be alright," McGee said to me before he turned to Tony. "She gave up on you again, you know."

Tony gave me a disparaging glance. "You have zero faith in me, you know?" he said.

"Yes. Absolutely none," I returned, rolling my eyes.

"Was that a sarcastic comment?" he said incredulously. "I think that was a sarcastic comment."

"Shut up DiNozzo," Gibbs said, cutting in before I could find a suitable retort. "I'm already tempted to leave you here." And with that, Gibbs grabbed the styrofoam cup that held his coffee and walked out of the room.

Tony stared after him for a moment. "He didn't even say 'Get Well Soon,'" he muttered. "Typical." He looked between me and McGee for a moment, then said, with a tint of worry in his voice, "He wouldn't really leave me here…would he?"

We stared back at him for a moment, trying to hold in our laughter, but we didn't succeed. After a couple of seconds, I had to stop. The violent movement aggravated my healing ribs.

McGee seemed to notice right away when my laughter changed slightly to cover the hiss of pain I was trying to disguise. "We should get you back to your room now, Ziva," he said concernedly. "Come on…I'll help you." He held out his arm for me.

I did not take it. "I do not need help," I said, irritation in my voice again. I did not want to show my fragility in front of Tony. I was going to be okay; I did not want him to worry. I hoped that he would not notice, but I guess he was more observant than I gave him credit for.

"Why does Ziva need helping?" he asked, and some unfamiliar emotion appeared in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I am fine," I protested as I began to stand up, intending to demonstrate my ability to support myself.

But, alas, it did not go as I planned. As I tried to take one step, the ground swayed beneath me and I stumbled into McGee's waiting arms.

Again.

This was getting frustrating.

Tony looked really concerned now, on top of that other emotion. I waited for the comment or the joke that was to surely come at the expense of my crippled state, but none came. He said nothing for a long moment.

"You guys will come back and see me, right?" he asked. I did not hear McGee's reply. My heart fluttered and my stomach clenched as Tony and I made tentative eye contact before McGee lead me out the door.

* * *

**I WANT SEASON SIX TO HURRY UP AND START ALREADY. **


	10. Epilogue

**So I realize that it's been like, a million and a half years since I updated. But, I was having an internal crisis on whether or not to continue, and stuff was just not coming out the way I wanted them to. **

**Until I wrote this just now at one in the morning. **

**Yes folks...this is the end. Thanks for sticking with me and reading this. Your reviews really mean alot to me. **

**So if you could just do me one small favor: now that it's the end, I would really like everyone who's reading this to review and tell me what you liked/didn't like about it. Constructive critisism. I don't care if you've never reviewed ever, or if you're reading this ten years from now. I slaved over this most of my summer and I want to know what you all think of it and what you think I can improve on. **

**that is all...thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this last chapter. **

* * *

CHAPTER TEN

**ZIVA**

"So, once again, evil is stopped by the unstoppable force known as Special Agent Gibbs," Tony concluded extravagantly to his crowd of adoring newbies.

"What was it like being a prisoner?" one asked, shock and awe in his voice.

"Oh, it was nothing I couldn't handle," Tony said, nonchalantly adjusting his suit so they couldn't see the brace wrapped around his injured shoulder.

I snorted and rolled my eyes, exaggerating the movement so he would notice. "Will you be shutting up soon, Tony?" I asked. "Or am I going to have to get McGee over here to tell them what really happened?"

The newbies laughed nervously, not sure which to take sides with―the senior agent or the trained assassin.

I got up from my seat and headed over to the buffet table.

We were at a party of sorts, in celebration of Gibbs' team being returned in mostly prime condition and doubling also as a memorial for Agent Nikki Jardine.

The doctors in Baghdad said that we should recover fully. Discreetly, I felt the bandage on my leg through my black dress and scratched at it. It bothered me that I had to wear it all the time, but Gibbs said that if I did not follow the doctor's orders exactly, then I would be stuck on desk work for a lot longer than a month.

"I saw that," Tony whispered in my ear as I swiped some of the chocolate icing off the cake with my index finger.

I turned around and stuck my tongue out at him. Childish, I know, but Tony always seemed to bring out the immature adolescent in everyone.

He laughed, and grabbed my hand.

"Come dance with me," he said.

"What...Tony! I cannot dance!"

"Liar."

"What part of _shot in the leg_ are you not understanding, then?" I demanded, try to hold him back as he pulled me onto the floor with the rest of the dancers.

"It's a slow song, Ziva," he whispered, pulling me into his arms and holding me close in such a way that set my heart pounding at four times the normal rate. "I'm sure you can handle it." And with that, he lifted me up of the floor and set my feet down to rest on top of his shoes.

"See? Now you don't even have to move. So stop complaining."

"I feel like a child," I grumbled, though not unpleasantly.

As he twirled me around effortlessly, I began to think. It had been a week or so since we had started back at NCIS after our experience in Baghdad. We were all back to our normal routines, except for Tony and I, who were confined to our desks for several more weeks. Tony was back to his regular joking, obnoxious self, and by now I was convinced that he had not heard my confession while we were trapped in the metal maze.

I was both relieved and upset at this. Relieved, because it was embarrassing and I preferred that he did not know, now that I was thinking clearly and not dying from starvation and blood loss. Upset, because I knew that I would have to tell him eventually. It was hard enough the first time.

After a minute or so of Tony just waltzing me around in silence, the song changed. The tempo was faster, the song more upbeat.

"Are you up for it?" Tony asked me. "Or should we wait this one out?"

I glared at him. "I am fine."

We began to dance faster, turning around and around. He spun me out, and I came back to him, ending up closer than was strictly necessary, twining my arms tight about his neck as he held me close.

"This reminds me of a movie," Tony said a couple of seconds later as I spun out and back into him again.

I rolled my eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" I asked, my voice a whisper as our faces came within inches of each other.

"You know, the Mask of Zorro. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. There was a dance scene…kind of like this."

I just smiled and ran my fingertips down his face to trail tantalizingly around his collar bone.

"I think I've actually seen that one," I responded after a moment.

I spun out again and came back for another tight hold, and this time Tony held me closer than before. I was pressed up against him, my arms around his neck. The distance between us could no longer be measured in inches. We were both breathing heavily, and I could feel his breath on my face as I closed my eyes.

"You're a hell of a dancer, Ziva," Tony said finally.

"Thank you."

"Listen…there was―"

"Tony! Ziva!" came Gibbs' voice, cutting though the music and breaking us out of our trance. I blinked, and Tony and I stepped away from each other quickly like we were on fire.

"Coming, sir," Tony said, and I followed, joining him and McGee at Gibbs' side.

"You two. Go to the office and wait for my call," he said to me and Tony. "McGee, get Abby. She can substitute for the moment."

"What's up, boss?"

"Homicide. Retired Naval officer living just off the base."

I rolled my eyes and headed for the door.

Just another day at the office.

…

Tony and I had been sitting at our desks for five hours and said nothing to each other. The light was beginning to show on the horizon, signaling that we had been at the office all night. We were still in the clothes we had worn to the party; hopefully Gibbs would let us leave to go home and shower when he got back.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, trying to wake myself up enough so I could at least see my computer screen clearly again. I had the horrible job of sifting through a database with only the suspect's first name.

Seriously, could there really be this many Johns in the D.C. area?

And Tony had been on the phone with a thoroughly unhelpful bank manager in Europe. He had been put on hold so many times he began to start humming the music they played in the background.

"You know, I've almost memorized this entire song," Tony remarked calmly as his drummed a pen on the side of his desk in time with the music.

He had put it on speakerphone so I could hear it too.

I was about to snap back at him, but my phone rang, making us both jump.

"Hello?" I answered, knowing already who it was.

"We're back," Gibbs said. "McGee's coming up with evidence. Get any headway on your end?"

"No sir, not really."

"That's what I thought."

And then he hung up.

"They are back." I said to Tony. "I am going to go help McGee." I stood up and began walking to the elevator.

"Wait up, I'll help too," he said, getting up and following me. "I need to stretch my legs. Been sitting in that chair too long."

The elevator _dinged_ and the doors opened. Tony and I walked inside the empty box and I pressed the button that would take us down to the garage.

"Do you remember that time we were in Baghdad and we were kidnapped and you and I were wandering around that sick maze?" Tony asked abruptly as the doors closed.

I stiffened. "Yes," I said neutrally. "What about it, Tony?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm a little fuzzy on the details myself, but I've been thinking about something you said to me, right before Gibbs rescued us."

I was silent as my stomach dropped to rest somewhere around my ankles. The elevator seemed to be going extra slowly today, just to spite me. I did _not_ want to be having this conversation right now

"What I'm getting at is," Tony continued quietly. "Did you mean it?"

I turned to face him, and was caught by surprise. That was not the answer I was expecting. "I never say anything I do not mean," I whispered, trying to decipher the expression on his face.

"That's what I thought."

And then his lips were on mine before I could even process what had just happened. He pulled away quickly as soon as they touched, as if unsure of what he just did, but I was not having any of that. I threw my arms around his neck, pressing myself up against him.

After half a surprised second, Tony responded, kissing me back with equal passion. His arms wrapped around me tight, holding me too him. We lost balance as the elevator stopped and suddenly I was up against the wall, my fingers tangled in his hair. I was on fire; every time our lips pulled back and reconnected the flame intensified.

My reasons for getting in the elevator were forgotten.

After what seemed like four lifetimes later, a soft _ding_ registered in the back of my mind, along with the metallic sound of the heavy doors swinging outward.

"Take the stairs, Probie. We're busy," Tony said between our furious kisses. I reached down with a spare hand and pressed the button that would close the elevator doors again.

I managed to catch one glance over Tony's shoulder at McGee, carrying a bulky black case and wearing an astonished expression on his face; eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

Smiling, I turned back to Tony, pulling myself closer to him. I felt his arms slide up my back and I sighed, wanting nothing more than to be held by him forever.

* * *

**Okay. I'm just reminding you of my request in the author's note up top. It's really important to me...and I ask this at the end of all my chapter stories.**

**Thanks bunches and I hope to hear from you awesome people again when I think of something else to write about. XD**


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